iMessage issue with sending to wrong person

[kmk5397]

I've had this issue about 2-3 days after updating my phone to iOS12. No issues at all with any
precious iOS.

My husband, 2 kids and myself are all on the same account. We all have iPhones and have messaged
with no issues until now. After the update I noticed when I was trying to send a text to my son it was sending it to my husband. Honestly I thought it was me just hitting on the wrong name but after I really watched what was going on it would say my son's name on the top (who the text is going to) but when I hit send it
literally changes that name to my husband.

So this is what I have figured out. When I go to messages if I don't see all 3 names listed as people I have texted previously and only one (it changes between the 3 of them) then it doesn't matter who I want to send it, it'll only send to that one person. I have to delete that thread and start a whole new one for it to go to the correct person.

My husband and I have updated to the iOS12 but my kids have not. But it seems I'm the only one with this issue at the moment.

I really hope this wasn't too confusing lol.

 

[!!!]

If you mean you all use the same Apple ID, then it’s probably the new feature in messages where it merges all emails and phone numbers for an Apple ID.

You should really be using family sharing instead of using the same Apple ID.

 

[kmk5397]

If you mean you all use the same Apple ID, then it’s probably the new feature in messages where it merges all emails and phone numbers for an Apple ID.

You should really be using family sharing instead of using the same Apple ID.

We've all used the same ID for years. I wasn't aware of a new feature and have been googling this for 2 days lol.
So thanks for that!

Is there a way to have it work like before or is it a requirement to use family sharing (which I'll be looking
up now since I wasn't aware of it).

 

[NoBoMac]

You can try turning off iCloud Messages to see if that helps, but really should be using Family Sharing, so that everyone has their own contacts, Contacts, Reminders/Calendars notifications, etc.

With using the same ID, too many chances to get mis-delivered alerts, messages, etc since everyone/every device on that ID can get and respond to things.

 

[M33-1]

I've had this issue about 2-3 days after updating my phone to iOS12. No issues at all with any
precious iOS.

My husband, 2 kids and myself are all on the same account. We all have iPhones and have messaged
with no issues until now. After the update I noticed when I was trying to send a text to my son it was sending it to my husband. Honestly I thought it was me just hitting on the wrong name but after I really watched what was going on it would say my son's name on the top (who the text is going to) but when I hit send it
literally changes that name to my husband.

So this is what I have figured out. When I go to messages if I don't see all 3 names listed as people I have texted previously and only one (it changes between the 3 of them) then it doesn't matter who I want to send it, it'll only send to that one person. I have to delete that thread and start a whole new one for it to go to the correct person.

My husband and I have updated to the iOS12 but my kids have not. But it seems I'm the only one with this issue at the moment.

I really hope this wasn't too confusing lol.

I’ve had the same issue since the first beta of iOS 12. Same solution works for me...deleting thread.

 

[bertimus2002]

You’ll have to delete the threads that combined. Create Apple ids for each, BUT you can sign into messages under one ID and leave the main iCloud ID as-is. Or you can do family sharing, assuming it’s 6 or less people.

I went through the same thing and had to clear a few threads over a year old to actually clear it up.

 

[Jess8008]

I have been having the same issues!! I kept thinking i was losing my mind. I don't share the same iTunes Acct as my kids & my husband. The real issue is when my daughter texts her sister or my husband (she has updated her iPhone X to iOS 12 & she isn't having this issues. It's only me when i text any of them. I can send a group msg to all 3, then tell whoever i need to talk to initiate a msg to me, but when i respond it goes back to the name of whoever i was texting previously. This makes no sense to me at all.

I've had this issue about 2-3 days after updating my phone to iOS12. No issues at all with any
precious iOS.

My husband, 2 kids and myself are all on the same account. We all have iPhones and have messaged
with no issues until now. After the update I noticed when I was trying to send a text to my son it was sending it to my husband. Honestly I thought it was me just hitting on the wrong name but after I really watched what was going on it would say my son's name on the top (who the text is going to) but when I hit send it
literally changes that name to my husband.

So this is what I have figured out. When I go to messages if I don't see all 3 names listed as people I have texted previously and only one (it changes between the 3 of them) then it doesn't matter who I want to send it, it'll only send to that one person. I have to delete that thread and start a whole new one for it to go to the correct person.

My husband and I have updated to the iOS12 but my kids have not. But it seems I'm the only one with this issue at the moment.

I really hope this wasn't too confusing lol.

 

[karinnkade]

I have been having the same issues!! I kept thinking i was losing my mind. I don't share the same iTunes Acct as my kids & my husband. The real issue is when my daughter texts her sister or my husband (she has updated her iPhone X to iOS 12 & she isn't having this issues. It's only me when i text any of them. I can send a group msg to all 3, then tell whoever i need to talk to initiate a msg to me, but when i respond it goes back to the name of whoever i was texting previously. This makes no sense to me at all.

I am having the same issue. With my family as well as friends. My friend and her daughters number keep getting mixed up on my phone! I deleted the texts between my husband and I as well as her and her daughter, now no one is getting my texts! Anyone know another fix??

 

[lorbethm]

I am having the same issue. With my family as well as friends. My friend and her daughters number keep getting mixed up on my phone! I deleted the texts between my husband and I as well as her and her daughter, now no one is getting my texts! Anyone know another fix??
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I am having the same issue. With my family as well as friends. My friend and her daughters number keep getting mixed up on my phone! I deleted the texts between my husband and I as well as her and her daughter, now no one is getting my texts! Anyone know another fix??

We are having this issue in my family, too. My son has had the issue since he updated to the beta iOS 12. We all have our own iCloud account using family sharing. I can’t even answer a thread already there without it changing it to a different person. I really don’t want to delete all my message threads. I have things in there I want to keep. Help! It’s driving all four of us nuts plus we are in the middle of making medical plans and there are things my kids don’t need to know when I text my husband!!

Thanks!

 

[EugW]

If you mean you all use the same Apple ID, then it’s probably the new feature in messages where it merges all emails and phone numbers for an Apple ID.

You should really be using family sharing instead of using the same Apple ID.

No, IMO, this is just moronic on Apple's part. Apple's new "feature" here makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.

 

[cynics]

For security reasons Apple advices not to use the same AppleID for multiple people. You might be able to make it work however it’s not a supported function so it shouldn’t be expected to work flawlessly 100% of the time.

It’s only going to get worse too. Many cellular networks support calling from iCloud devices, we have messages in iCloud (which removes individual messages from back ups and congregates then together). If nothing else you lose out on functionality by being forced not to log into features.

 

[EugW]

For security reasons Apple advices not to use the same AppleID for multiple people. You might be able to make it work however it’s not a supported function so it shouldn’t be expected to work flawlessly 100% of the time.

It’s only going to get worse too. Many cellular networks support calling from iCloud devices, we have messages in iCloud (which removes individual messages from back ups and congregates then together). If nothing else you lose out on functionality by being forced not to log into features.

It worked just fine before, flawlessly. This should not be linked to AppleID. It should be linked to email or phone number.

 

[sean000]

It worked just fine before, flawlessly. This should not be linked to AppleID. It should be linked to email or phone number.

Phone numbers don’t work with non cellular devices like iPads and Macs unless they are linked to an Apple ID. The Apple ID is the universal account. Your cellular number is just one possible channel of contact.

Your Apple ID also does a lot more. It manages the data you sync between devices and all of your iCloud photos. Why let another family member use your Apple ID when they can just create their own for free? You can still share apps, photos and more with iCloud family sharing.

Over the years I have helped both iOS and Android users untangle the messes created by sharing Apple IDs and Google accounts. The worst is when couples divorce and have only one account with all their photos. The longer you continue to share one Apple ID, the more confusing it gets.

 

[EugW]

Phone numbers don’t work with non cellular devices like iPads and Macs unless they are linked to an Apple ID. The Apple ID is the universal account. Your cellular number is just one possible channel of contact.

But of course, we are talking about iPhones here with distinct phone numbers.

Merging threads like that with distinct phone numbers is utterly moronic.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out with dual SIM iPhones. Did Apple just make dual SIM support pointless for some people too? Cuz these phones will have dual phone numbers with the same Apple ID.

 

[danmart]

You need to check the details on their devices. Sometimes when you upgrade it makes you receive messages via a whole stack of addresses. On each device look in:

Settings > Messages > Send & Receive

...and check each device is receiving on a unique address or phone number.

 

[Superrjamz54]

But of course, we are talking about iPhones here with distinct phone numbers.

Merging threads like that with distinct phone numbers is utterly moronic.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out with dual SIM iPhones. Did Apple just make dual SIM support pointless for some people too? Cuz these phones will have dual phone numbers with the same Apple ID.

Apple expects that there is only one person using an individual AppleId. They expect multiple people to have their own unique AppleId. They probably totally change that so you can have multiple numbers on one device. That’s why your better off having each family member with their own AppleId and mange them through family sharing.

 

[Marshall73]

If you all use the same Apple ID for iMessage then iMessage will link all of your mobile numbers to that account. You want to separate these so that you don’t get mixed message threads.

On each device go into message settings and turn off use Apple ID for iMessage. Make sure that each phone is using the correct phone number for iMessage.

Then make sure that you have only the phone number under contacts for each of your family members. Now, start a new message and choose the specific family member and it will start a message thread with that contact using their phone number instead of Apple ID.

 

[EugW]

Apple expects that there is only one person using an individual AppleId. They expect multiple people to have their own unique AppleId. They probably totally change that so you can have multiple numbers on one device. That’s why your better off having each family member with their own AppleId and mange them through family sharing.

The bottom line is they totally changed the behaviour without warning from something that worked perfectly fine to something that doesn’t work at all. That’s a major screwup, plain and simple.

 

[C DM]

The bottom line is they totally changed the behaviour without warning from something that worked perfectly fine to something that doesn’t work at all. That’s a major screwup, plain and simple.

Unless the way it was working wasn't how it was supposed to be and was essentially some sort of a bug, for example.

 

[EugW]

Unless the way it was working wasn't how it was supposed to be and was essentially some sort of a bug.

It worked how most people with common sense expected it to work: independent phone number = independent messaging account, if you limited the messaging to that phone number.

That’s how SMS messaging has worked for just about forever.

 

[C DM]

It worked how most people with common sense expected it to work: independent phone number = independent messaging account, if you limited the messaging to that phone number.

That’s how SMS messaging has worked for just about forever.

At the same time that's not really how iMessage has been created to work since basically the beginning.

 

[EugW]

At the same time that's not really how iMessage has been created to work since basically the beginning.

Except it did work just fine, until iOS 12.

 

[C DM]

Except it did work just fine, until iOS 12.

And the explanation could very well have been what I mentioned in an earlier reply, or that a newer feature has been added that works as intended when Apple IDs are used as intended but can potentially result in something odd in circumstances where things are used in a way that they weren't intended.

Realistically speaking there are threads of this nature with petty much every major iOS release where something messaging/call related changes for someone in one way or another, and at the heart of it is generally the sharing of Apple IDs for something that they weren't really designed for.

 

[danmart]

Except it did work just fine, until iOS 12.

I experienced problems of mixed messaging in early iOS builds; my post above explains how I fixed them.

This isn’t new, in my experience, it is just chance that sometimes the receive-information for a device gets reset when upgrading. Should this happen? No. But software is complex stuff and people are only human. The OP was just unlucky this time.

 

[sean000]

But of course, we are talking about iPhones here with distinct phone numbers.

Merging threads like that with distinct phone numbers is utterly moronic.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out with dual SIM iPhones. Did Apple just make dual SIM support pointless for some people too? Cuz these phones will have dual phone numbers with the same Apple ID.

Many of us use iMessage on iPads and Macs as well. Those devices don't have phone numbers. Dual sim shouldn't matter, because your iMessage identity is best tied to your iCloud account and not to a phone number. Tying it to a phone number would be confusing and problematic. I know that's the way SMS messaging worked, but we have moved beyond that technology (mostly).

I do think that Apple should have communicated this better. They could have even targeted special messaging to people who have more than one iPhone connected to the same iCloud account.
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Except it did work just fine, until iOS 12.

Not really. There were issues of confusion when messages from one person would be sent sometimes to your phone number and sometimes to your email (iMessage would treat them as separate threads). i think Apple decided that they finally needed to fix this by offering unified messaging once they added iMessage capability to macOS. They are actually trying to make it work better, but of course the best intentions are only helpful when people follow your advice for best practices. They have been recommending one iCloud account per person for many, many years.