iMessage not sending to Contact with shared Apple ID

Question

Level 1

8 points

iMessage not sending to Contact with shared Apple ID

My iPhone has the latest update, I try texting my Dad and the messages go to my Mom. They share an Apple ID and I have been reading Contacts are now associated with Apple IDs which I'm sure is the issue. The problem is that now, I cannot message my Dad directly, my Mom received the messages but my dad does not, thought if he texts me I can respond to him. I don't believe his phone is up to date, but regardless, this is a pretty big change/bug no one heard about.

The issue is, that we travel to a place where cell signals are not strong and sometimes non existent with our present carrier. Our fix was to get/use internet there which allows us to communicate. Now, please tell me how to contact my Dad while there if he doesn't text me first? Yes, I can set him up with an ID or call, email or even snail mail, But how am I to know the extent of the issue? Am I supposed to contact each and every person in my contact list to make sure they have their own Apple ID so I'm not sending potentially private messages to the wrong person? Now my Mom knows what I got her for Christmas ... Thanks for that meanies.

My point is, as a user I plugin in phone numbers and emails for contacts, expecting messages be sent to the device(s) assigned to those, not devices with Apple IDs because how would I know who's apple ID they use and if they share it? They gave me a phone number to contact them at, not an ID. If this was intentional, shouldn't there be a way for me to know who's Apple ID I'm sending a message to? Should those be listed in the yellow pages now too? Also, was it necessary to not tell people that functionality changed?

Currently my solution is to turn off iMessage because what option do I have? I don't write on discussion boards but this annoyed me too much not to.

iPhone X, iOS 12.0.1

Posted on Oct 12, 2018 7:34 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Oct 12, 2018 9:44 AM in response to JoeWhit

For the past 5 years Apple has been telling people not to share Apple IDs. They even created Family Sharing so there is no logical reason to share Apple IDs. They've been gradually adding features on the assumption that people have heeded the advice to not share Apple IDs. But people who still share Apple IDs will see more and more problems as time goes on. Even before iOS 12 there were many negative side effects of sharing Apple IDs, including allowing anyone sharing an ID to see all texts of anyone else sharing, recent call lists that intermix calls from multiple devices, deleting anything from one iCloud-linked app removes it from all others (photos, contacts, calendar entries, notes, reminders, Safari bookmarks, websites visited, passwords) and anything added to one device appears on all such as photos. Sharing an ID is a bad idea. Always.

Reply

Answer 2

JoeWhit Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 12, 2018 8:45 AM in response to Lawrence Finch

All those things work for my retired parent under 1 ID, iMessage just mucked it up and it’s annoying. So I will turn it off or give them a new Apple ID.

My point is, and this is important, iMessage is further distancing itself from phone numbers by requiring a user specific Apple ID. Like it or not, people don’t follow iPhone best practices and end up sharing ids because they don’t, or didn’t, have a need for their own.

This has not been a huge issue in my experience until now because none of the programs/apps requiring Apple IDs have been direct communication channels.

I bought a iPhone, message someone using a phone number, I find out they have an iPhone too, great, increased functionality from Apple!! They don’t have an iPhone, great! Defaults to SMS.

NOW, as of ios12, I send a message to a phone number unsure if the number is connected to an iPhone or not, iMessage prioritizes the ID over the phone number meaning my text may not reach that phone number at all. I have absolutely no way of knowing. This is what happened to my parents.

Solution = disable iMessage

That’s fine Apple is going that route with IDs, this is the first time it’s affected a direct communication channel and it’s frustrating.

Reply

Answer 3

KiltedTim

Level 10

225,960 points

Oct 12, 2018 8:09 AM in response to JoeWhit

Both numbers are associated with the same ID because they are sharing an ID. Educate them as to what they have to do to fix it.

Sharing IDs will bork up all kinds of things.

Reply

Answer 4

JoeWhit Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 12, 2018 8:18 AM in response to KiltedTim

Clearly. But I’m not educating everyone in my contact list. Again, solution = disable iMessage.

Reply

Answer 5

KiltedTim

Level 10

225,960 points

Oct 12, 2018 9:43 AM in response to JoeWhit

Short of turning off iMessage entirely and just sending messages to their individual numbers via SMS instead, you can't fix this. They have to remove the shared ID problem themselves. They need their own IDs.

Reply

Answer 6

JoeWhit Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 12, 2018 8:07 AM in response to KiltedTim

I should say it’s more of a functionality annoyance than anything. Clearly there is a logical solution, I’m pointing our that Apple is requiring a person specific Apple ID for something to function the same way it did 2 weeks ago without a person specific Apple ID.

It’s frustrating that no one knew this was coming.

Reply

Answer 7

JoeWhit Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 12, 2018 7:49 AM in response to KiltedTim

Yes, I get that. But you’re missing my point. I intend to send a message to a phone number without having any idea if the people on the other end is using an iPhone or not (think new contact, so I can’t tell from the color of the chat bubble) How do I know it will reach that specific number if Apple is automatically associating contacts with an Apple ID first? I’m thinking business here where some small businesses do share Apple IDs with their business phones.

Also, turning off iMessage defaults to SMS, so my solution is the same as yours.

Reply

Answer 8

JoeWhit Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 12, 2018 9:02 AM in response to Lawrence Finch

Also, this is multiplied when a business phone uses a personal Apple ID. Opens the door to people getting messages from clients on personal phones and vice versa. Sounds like mess I don’t want to deal with.

Be sure to keep both phone on you at all times I guess!!!

Reply

iMessage not sending to Contact with shared Apple ID

Similar questions