What appears to be a long standing issue with lost messages in Apple's iMessage system may finally be coming to an end because the company has said it will release a bug fix in an upcoming iOS update. The issue some text messages sent to people who switched to Android or Windows smartphones from the iPhone to fail to arrive, and even led to a lawsuit against Apple.
Apple says fix for lost iMessages is on the way
The problem can crop up when someone who currently uses an iPhone sends a text message to someone who switched from an iPhone to an alternate smartphone platform, but keeps the same phone number. Apple's iMessage system sees the number as still attached to an iCloud account, and fails to send messages as regular SMS to the new phone. The sender sees the messages as delivered even though they never made it to the recipient.
Removing your phone number from iMessages before switching to an Android or Windows smartphone should prevent that from happening, but that hasn't proven to be a reliable method for moving back to standard SMS texting.
Apple has now acknowledged the problem, and promised a fix is on the way. The company told Re/code, "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."
That announcement came after news that Apple was being sued over the bug. The case implies that Apple is in some way blocking text messages sent from iPhones to other smartphones and is penalizing switchers by not disclosing the issue.
Apple hasn't commented on the lawsuit, but the company's acknowledgement of the issue is reassuring because it means a fix is on the way.
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