iMessage issue with sending to wrong person

[EugW]

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.

Both sims would be tied to the same AppleID but the whole point of dual sims for a lot of people is to keep the numbers and communication with those numbers separated.

I wouldn’t want threads with one number mixed in with threads from another number. Furthermore, I’d want to be able to move that second sim to another phone at will, again keeping the communications separated.

I know people who have owned two iPhones specifically for this reason. Dual SIM iPhones were not available so they just bought two iPhones, one for work and one for more personal stuff. And yes both are registered under the same Apple ID. A third phone might even be purchased to be given to an underling for temporary usage.

BTW, I personally do use an iPad for iMessage too. To keep things clean I never allow my email to be used for threads. Only my phone number is allowed. This is the simplest and most consistent way for this to work.

 

[sean000]

Both sims would be tied to the same AppleID but the whole point of dual sims for a lot of people is to keep the numbers and communication with those numbers separated.

I wouldn’t want threads with one number mixed in with threads from another number. Furthermore, I’d want to be able to move that second sim to another phone at will, again keeping the communications separated.

I know people who have owned two iPhones specifically for this reason. Dual SIM iPhones were not available so they just bought two iPhones, one for work and one for more personal stuff. And yes both are registered under the same Apple ID. A third phone might even be purchased to be given to an underling for temporary usage.

BTW, I personally do use an iPad for iMessage too. To keep things clean I never allow my email to be used for threads. Only my phone number is allowed. This is the simplest and most consistent way for this to work.

Your iPad is able to receive iMessages via your telephone number BECAUSE of the way Apple treats your iCloud account as your real messaging account. If they were treated differently, you would miss text messages on your iPad that someone sent to your phone number. That's the way it used to work and thank goodness Apple fixed it.

With Dual sim you can have both numbers registered to one iCloud account, but the sender only needs to know the number you choose to provide. If you want to keep the messages physically separate in different apps or views, that's another issue. Thread mixing shouldn't be a problem unless you give both your numbers to the same person.

Personally I believe there are better ways to deal with this than dual sim, but that's just me. Different people have different needs, and Apple can't support all edge cases. I currently receive text messages from three different numbers on my iPhone: My cellular number, my Google Voice number, and my employer-provided VOIP number. Each has its own messaging app. No extra sims required, because many businesses have figured out that VOIP is cheaper and more flexible than maintaining multiple cellular contracts. I would only get dual sim if I traveled regularly and it made sense to use a different carrier while out of the country.

It's important to remember that iMessage is not SMS. Regardless of what we think the best practice should be, Apple will manage iMessage the way they think will benefit most of their customers.

 

[EugW]

With Dual sim you can have both numbers registered to one iCloud account, but the sender only needs to know the number you choose to provide. If you want to keep the messages physically separate in different apps or views, that's another issue. Thread mixing shouldn't be a problem unless you give both your numbers to the same person.

So in other words you agree this could cause problems even for dual sim users with just a single phone.

 

[cynics]

So in other words you agree this could cause problems even for dual sim users with just a single phone.

Its probably been mentioned but many cellular providers support Wifi calling from iCloud devices. The feature allows me to send and receive text messages (iMessage) and make and receive phone calls using my Apple Watch, iPad, Mac over wifi with my iPhone turned off. Apple needs carrier level support because this is done using my phone number on a device without a SIM.

That said, Apple deactivates iMessage and FaceTime on the secondary SIM at a carrier level with dual sim devices. You can switch which one uses iMessage and FaceTime on the fly and it activates it but it deactivates the other one. This isolates messages by removing the association of the phone number from the AppleID and utilizes the short message service center for texting via cellular only.

What is the benefit of sharing an AppleID anyway? Do you maintain full functionality of all the iCloud services?

 

[sean000]

So in other words you agree this could cause problems even for dual sim users with just a single phone.

No... I don’t see how it would be a problem. Just give whatever contact info you want to the people you want. iMessage will deliver it to you regardless of how they contact you and regardless of what device you are using at the time. That’s the way I would want it to work.

 

[EugW]

No... I don’t see how it would be a problem. Just give whatever contact info you want to the people you want. iMessage will deliver it to you regardless of how they contact you and regardless of what device you are using at the time. That’s the way I would want it to work.

Friends do business with friends, and provide both numbers for different purposes. Different numbers are used for different chats and different group chats.

 

[sean000]

Friends do business with friends, and provide both numbers for different purposes. Different numbers are used for different chats and different group chats.

It sounds like what you want is a way to keep business and personal texts separate, and that’s not a use case I think Apple had in mind for iMessage. The conversations are arranged by contacts regardless of why or how they texted you. I guess I don’t have that issue, because all my work calls and texts go to the Skype for Business app (or Slack), and all my Google Voice number calls and texts go to the Google Voice app. I don’t know what options Apple will offer for managing dual sim and dual number. Maybe use iMessage for one and WhatsApp for the other?

 

[Acemccracken]

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.

[doublepost=1538441663][/doublepost]I am having the same exact issue. It’s not just limited to family though. It happens to friends. I texted a friend the other day (I’m positive I chose the right contact) and it went to her husband. I’m actually not even sure either one of them actually got it. Her whole thread is under his contact. If I type her name, it goes to him. Just like when I choose one of my kids, it goes to my wife. However, I can text my wife just fine. And I can group text the family. It’s driving me bonkers.

 

[Sagytiv]

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

Solution!
Use WhatsApp.

I’ve just been through updating 6 phones and creating 5 new Apple ids and it still doesn’t work. I don’t want to delete my children’s old texts. So thank you Apple for forcing me to WhatsApp.

 

[Apanokea]

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.

This doesn't make sense because my kids are using the same Apple ID and i don't think they should have private accounts at this age. Plus we can't use find my iPhone unless we memorize everyone's email and password to login. Plus we share a calendar and contacts and it's way more complicated to have to go in and set all of that back up for everyone. It was working fine the way it was and we've been set up this way for over 10 years. apple needs to fix this!

 

[NoBoMac]

Plus we can't use find my iPhone unless we memorize everyone's email and password to login.

No need to remember ids and passwords.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201087

If you join Family Sharing and choose to share your location with family members, they can find and secure a missing device for you.

If you turned on Find My iPhone on your missing device, a family member can help you:

• See the location and online or offline status of your device.
• Play a sound on your missing device to help you find it.
• Put your device in Lost Mode if it was already set up with a passcode.

 

[sean000]

This doesn't make sense because my kids are using the same Apple ID and i don't think they should have private accounts at this age. Plus we can't use find my iPhone unless we memorize everyone's email and password to login. Plus we share a calendar and contacts and it's way more complicated to have to go in and set all of that back up for everyone. It was working fine the way it was and we've been set up this way for over 10 years. apple needs to fix this!

If your kids have their own personal iOS devices, they should have their own personal Apple IDs under your family group. Period. This is essential if you want to take advantage of parental controls and easily manage their screen time. It also allows you to easily share everything you already share, but in ways that are actually less confusing for everyone. These are accounts you manage (until you decide they are old enough to have their accounts released from parental management), so from a security and privacy perspective this is way less concerning than letting them create their own Facebook, Instagram or Snapchat account. Safer than parentally managed Minecraft and Roblox accounts as well. Personally, I wouldn’t want my kids to have access to all of the content and apps available to my AppleID anyway. With family group and family sharing, I can pick and choose. https://www.apple.com/families/

Identity sharing is generally a bad idea with any technology, but sometimes it’s appropriate. If your kids use a shared device, like the old iPad we let our kids use, just create a generic AppleID specifically for that device. Give it a fun name. Disable apps you don’t want them to use and set other parental controls. Migrate them to individual accounts as they get older.

I manage a technology help desk at a university and every year we help people transition away from shared AppleIDs and Google accounts. A lot of students arrive on campus with smartphones still tied to a parent’s account. The longer you use shared accounts, the more difficult it becomes to undo the mess later. Yes this worked for you for 10 years, but that doesn’t mean it was a good practice that Apple should support. The reason you are seeing problems now is because Apple is providing more identity based features. These are features that many of us want.

 

[cynics]

This doesn't make sense because my kids are using the same Apple ID and i don't think they should have private accounts at this age. Plus we can't use find my iPhone unless we memorize everyone's email and password to login. Plus we share a calendar and contacts and it's way more complicated to have to go in and set all of that back up for everyone. It was working fine the way it was and we've been set up this way for over 10 years. apple needs to fix this!

I completely understand where you are coming from but you are trying to hodgepodge things together in iOS to protect them. However you gave them access to an adults account and a adults email rather then a restricted account and email for children. You're using a device locator (find my iPhone) to location people rather then MUCH better ways of tracking people, etc etc...

It was posted above but scroll through here.

https://www.apple.com/families/

Apple thought this out so you wouldn't have too.

 

[Apanokea]

It just sucks that we are being forced to make this change due to a glitch in their OS.

 

[cynics]

It just sucks that we are being forced to make this change due to a glitch in their OS.

While family sharing is still the way to go have you checked settings > messages > receive and send to make sure the phone numbers not associated with the sim in that particular phone aren't selected?

Make sure Messages in iCloud are off too....

 

[Marshall73]

If you share an Apple ID then don’t enable it in iMessage. If you use multiple devices, e.g. Mac, phone and iPad and want messages linked on all of them then use a different Apple ID and choose your phone number as your send from for all devices. That way you keep your threads together.

Just because you didn’t think things through when you first got an I device doesn’t mean you can piss and moan at Apple when it doesn’t work like you thought it was intended to.

 

[!!!]

This doesn't make sense because my kids are using the same Apple ID and i don't think they should have private accounts at this age. Plus we can't use find my iPhone unless we memorize everyone's email and password to login. Plus we share a calendar and contacts and it's way more complicated to have to go in and set all of that back up for everyone. It was working fine the way it was and we've been set up this way for over 10 years. apple needs to fix this!

Why are you entrusting your kids with an expensive piece of technology if you don't think they should have "private accounts"? And with family sharing they really aren't "private accounts". Instead you decided to entrust your kids with your account, with full access to everything.

 

[CJW143]

It just sucks that we are being forced to make this change due to a glitch in their OS.

The other people on this thread won’t like to hear this but.... I TOTALLY agree with you! The issue is on Apple’s end, NOT with you sharing ID’s! I have (take note that’s present tense) the same exact issue & scenario as you. Except I can’t text my son at all. He can text me but every time I try to text him, it goes to my daughter. It’s been going on for a week now.
I called Apple 3 times last week. I spent over 2 hours on the phone with them trying to fix the problem but to no avail.
They had me do a bunch of stuff in settings, reset my network settings, delete my kids contact info & all of their texts (which broke my heart b/c I like to refer back to texts & pics).
None of that helped so they made me set up a new Apple ID. I really didn’t want to do that BUT.... They said that’s causing my problem since we all 3 shared one ID. Once I setup a new Apple ID, my phone worked properly again. BUT to my surprise, the next day it was messing up again!!
I called Apple again, but spoke with a supervisor. He basically admitted the problem is on their end & would escalate my issue to the engineers for further review. It’s been a week & I’m still waiting to hear back from “Apple’s engineer team” with a resolution. I have 3 friends that don’t share an Apple ID with anyone & they’re having the same issue as me.
With that being said, NO it’s NOT the shared Apple ID that’s causing the issue.... It’s a glitch in the IOS 12 update! Google it, you’ll see an article that Forbes magazine wrote last week stating Apple’s IOS 12 update has millions of people’s iphones not working properly. My best advice is to wait it out & pray Apple will get it fixed this week.

 

[C DM]

With that being said, NO it’s NOT the shared Apple ID that’s causing the issue.... It’s a glitch in the IOS 12 update!

At the same time it seems that the only ones who are running issues with this kind of thing are those who share Apple IDs.
[doublepost=1539006985][/doublepost]

Google it, you’ll see an article that Forbes magazine wrote last week stating Apple’s IOS 12 update has millions of people’s iphones not working properly.

The problem with that is that Forbes has had a "the sky is falling" (or basically "the boy who cried wolf") for petty much every updated for a long time now. It's pretty much meaningless in that sense.

 

[JWreck]

I believe my wife has this issue, but she has her own iCloud account (never shared with anyone) and has experienced this before iOS 12.

 

[CJW143]

At the same time it seems that the only ones who are running issues with this kind of thing are those who share Apple IDs.
[doublepost=1539006985][/doublepost]
The problem with that is that Forbes has had a "the sky is falling" (or basically "the boy who cried wolf") for petty much every updated for a long time now. It's pretty much meaningless in that sense.

It’s NOT just with people who share ID’s. I know 3 other people who are having the same issue and have their own Apple IDs. The issue seems to be with most of the people, myself included, who made the mistake of updating their iphone to the IOS 12. But that’s just my opinion from what I hear & know.
I’ll update this post once I hear back from Apples Engineers on a resolution.

 

[C DM]

It’s NOT just with people who share ID’s. I know 3 other people who are having the same issue and have their own Apple IDs. The issue seems to be with most of the people, myself included, who made the mistake of updating their iphone to the IOS 12. But that’s just my opinion from what I hear & know.
I’ll update this post once I hear back from Apples Engineers on a resolution.

Realistically sepaking, why I certainly don't deny that some are having issues related to this, if it was even remotely close to most of the people who simply updated it iOS 12, not only would this thread be way bigger than it is, but there would definitely be many other discussions about it in many more places. Again, I don't mean to downplay the issue, but it also doesn't appear to be a huge widespread one either that simply applies to basically everyone with iOS 12.

 

[LanLanLan]

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.

[doublepost=1539058123][/doublepost]Thanks Once I deleted the thread of the 2 merged sms it resolved the problem

 

[supertomtom]

As the online services become more and more personalised, and the Apple ID is becoming more and more tied to the individual to deliver these services, it’s probably a good time to set up individual Apple ID’s for your family anyways. It’ll just cause more problems in the future otherwise.

 

[Applefiend65]

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.

[doublepost=1539258553][/doublepost]

As the online services become more and more personalised, and the Apple ID is becoming more and more tied to the individual to deliver these services, it’s probably a good time to set up individual Apple ID’s for your family anyways. It’ll just cause more problems in the future otherwise.

If you set up family sharing any uploaded hard CDs to Itunes will not be shareable across the family. This is the main reason our family has not done this. Only Itunes purchased music can be shared. And we did the deleted message thing and it works a bit then reverts back. Been a nightmare for my family since IOS 12.
[doublepost=1539259262][/doublepost]

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.

The reason is because they do not allow uploaded cds to iTunes to be family shared, only the purchases from iTunes .