Apple Says Server Issue Worsened iMessage Problems

Apple has reportedly fixed a server-side issue that worsened iMessage problems experienced by users switching from iPhone to other mobile operating systems.

Users have grown increasingly irate with Apple over a bug that manifests when switching from iOS to another operating system while keeping the same number. Often Apple's system doesn't recognize that their number is no longer associated with an iOS device and messages from other iOS users are still sent via iMessage, which can't be received on their new device. This has resulted in large number of unreceived SMS messages.

A women in California is now seeking class-action status for a lawsuit against Apple, saying that Apple is deprive former customers of the ability to get full value from their wireless service after switching. The suit claims Apple has violated California's unfair competition law and interfered with carrier's ability to deliver its promised service.


Apple recommends turning off iMessage and unchecking the phone number from all your Apple devices before switching to another device; however, even that is not guaranteed to work and many are not aware of the procedure before its too late.

Apple also had a way to try to remove users from the iMessage system but that procedure also didn't work reliably. The company tells Re/code that a recent server bug worsened the issue significantly making it impossible for support to deal with the iMessage issues successfully.

“We recently fixed a server-side iMessage bug which was causing an issue for some users, and we have an additional bug fix in a future software update,” Apple told Re/code in a statement. “For users still experiencing an issue, please contact AppleCare.”

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