iMessage creating separate contacts?

[karansaraf]

I sent a Message to a friend of mine, let's call him John Smith.

I got his reply in an iMessage, but instead of being from John Smith, the guy I had in my contacts, I got it from a separate contact, whose name in my phone (Messages app) was johnsmith@gmail.com.

Now I've got a thread with Messages with John Smith and a thread with iMessages with johnsmith@gmail.com.

I thought the whole point of iMessages was that it seamlessly integrated with your messages app and you could just send a message to whoever, and it would automatically choose to do it as a Message or an iMessage in the same thread? So why has it created two threads/contacts?

And is there any way I can now merge these contacts together into one so that I can read Messages AND iMessages from the same person in the same threaded conversation?

I've tried adding johnsmith@gmail.com to my existing John Smith contact but for some reason it just creates another contact named John Smith (ie. I can't input the email address into the same contact with his mobile number).


Any suggestions?

 

[jmmo20]

it's not your faults but your friend's. He should set up his telephone number as sender ID for iMessage

I sent a Message to a friend of mine, let's call him John Smith.

I got his reply in an iMessage, but instead of being from John Smith, the guy I had in my contacts, I got it from a separate contact, whose name in my phone (Messages app) was johnsmith@gmail.com.

Now I've got a thread with Messages with John Smith and a thread with iMessages with johnsmith@gmail.com.

I thought the whole point of iMessages was that it seamlessly integrated with your messages app and you could just send a message to whoever, and it would automatically choose to do it as a Message or an iMessage in the same thread? So why has it created two threads/contacts?

And is there any way I can now merge these contacts together into one so that I can read Messages AND iMessages from the same person in the same threaded conversation?

I've tried adding johnsmith@gmail.com to my existing John Smith contact but for some reason it just creates another contact named John Smith (ie. I can't input the email address into the same contact with his mobile number).


Any suggestions?

 

[saving107]

John Smith has his caller ID set to johnsmith@gmail.com, so you text him to his phone number, but when he replies it is sent from his email.

You need to text him to his email going forward

 

[RossMacca]

It's really not been as seamless as they advertised it to be. If they allowed us to link a phone number to your Apple account (which in turn, should be merged with iCloud account...) it would be much simpler.

Does "John Smith" have an iPad? I find that if i reply to a friend with my iPad, they get it in a separate conversation.

I hope they find a way to make it easier and less of a mess.

 

[radiogoober]

It's really not been as seamless as they advertised it to be. If they allowed us to link a phone number to your Apple account (which in turn, should be merged with iCloud account...) it would be much simpler.

Does "John Smith" have an iPad? I find that if i reply to a friend with my iPad, they get it in a separate conversation.

I hope they find a way to make it easier and less of a mess.

Yeah, it's a little confusing. I just texted my wife from my iPad and I just deleted the old "thread" that was originally from my phone number. Now the only thread on her phone from me actually originated form my "email", and now it works seamlessly. Same thing for other people that have iOS 5 installed.

Honestly, I love iCloud and 5.0, but you can definitely tell its all in its infant stages. I'm an Apple freak, and a developer, and some of the logic behind iCloud still confuses me.

Also,there's still a bit of disconnect between Lion and iOS 5. Ie, on one we find our contacts in Contacs, but on the other it's in Address Book. On one it's Calendar, other is iCal. I hate to say it, but they need to bring Lion in line with iOS.

 

[Gordonw]

Did your friend reply to you from his iPad? That gmail account is probably his Apple I.D. for his iPad. Same thing happened with my sister. I have her in my iMessage through her iPhone number, but last week she iMessaged me with her iPad, so now I have two separate threads, one with her normal contact name and the other with her Apple I.D.