Old phone number in iMessage...

[Chuchichan]

I just moved back to the States from Japan. In Japan I had an iPhone with Softbank. I confirmed that the number with them has been cancelled, however I noticed that on my new phone with AT&T my old number from Japan appears in my iMessage settings and people can still reach me at it.

How did my number from Japan get carried over to my new phone and why is it still active for iMessage? I would like my settings to be like my wife's who only has her new number listed under "You can be reached by iMessage at" and this cannot be checked or unchecked.

This must have to do with my Apple ID setup?

Thank you in advance for any help...

 

[eyoungren]

This must have to do with my Apple ID setup?

Good guess. You are correct.

Turn off iMessage. Turn it back on. If the number does not change, turn it off again, log out of iCloud, then log back in. Then turn iMessages back on.

 

[Chuchichan]

Good guess. You are correct.

Turn off iMessage. Turn it back on. If the number does not change, turn it off again, log out of iCloud, then log back in. Then turn iMessages back on.

Thanks for your reply. I will try that tonight. But I'm very curious why it is still possible to send to that phone number even though it was cancelled?

 

[eyoungren]

Thanks for your reply. I will try that tonight. But I'm very curious why it is still possible to send to that phone number even though it was cancelled?

With iMessage you are dealing with Apple's servers, not your carrier. I would guess that there is some underlying identifier that is being referenced beyond just your phone number. Or, it could just be that the Phone sees your new number already, but because you have not logged out of iCloud on the phone it isn't showing the new number.

What happens if someone iMessages you at your new number?

 

[Chuchichan]

I will be able to test that tonight. Right now my new number doesn't appear in iMessage (only my old one). Hopefully the new number will appear once I logout, refresh, etc...

Moving forward though I will try to only have people imessage me via my email address...

 

[eyoungren]

Moving forward though I will try to only have people imessage me via my email address...

I've found that doing that can result in some pushback from people. When iMessage was new, I did not have an iPhone as my primary phone. So I used a 3GS on WiFi. Activating iMessage required an email from me because that 3GS had no active phone number.

The majority of my friends who had iPhones were somewhat annoyed (and let me know it) that it required an extra step or two to have my email in their contacts for iMessage (instead of a phone number). It's also somewhat less intuitive when trying to iMessage someone.

That said, that was three years ago and just my own personal experience at the time. Things have changed.

But I'm willing to bet that even though your old number is being used for iMessage, Apple's servers are seeing your new number or using some other mark to deliver to your phone. Your phone just isn't showing the new number because you haven't turned it off then back on.

 

[Chuchichan]

I've found that doing that can result in some pushback from people. When iMessage was new, I did not have an iPhone as my primary phone. So I used a 3GS on WiFi. Activating iMessage required an email from me because that 3GS had no active phone number.

The majority of my friends who had iPhones were somewhat annoyed (and let me know it) that it required an extra step or two to have my email in their contacts for iMessage (instead of a phone number). It's also somewhat less intuitive when trying to iMessage someone.

That said, that was three years ago and just my own personal experience at the time. Things have changed.

But I'm willing to bet that even though your old number is being used for iMessage, Apple's servers are seeing your new number or using some other mark to deliver to your phone. Your phone just isn't showing the new number because you haven't turned it off then back on.

Tried logging out of iMessage and FaceTime and shutting down the phone and restarting. It still shows the Japan number...any ideas? Call Apple?

 

[eyoungren]

Call Apple?

Yeah, I'd try that. They may tell you to restore though.

 

[Chuchichan]

Yeah, I'd try that. They may tell you to restore though.

Well, just spent about 45 minutes on the phone with Apple. They did recommend a restore, but I wanted to try other things. It seems as though even though I had cancelled service, because I still had the old phone, I needed to turn off iMessage and FaceTime on the old phone. I will do a factory restore on it anyway soon, but that was the reason.

Apple said that they do keep old phone numbers in the system for 45 days as well.