Apple Being Sued Over Phone-Switching iMessage Issue

[wookiee2cu]

There's been a few threads regarding the texting issues for those who have switched from an iPhone to droid, just ran across this article on macrumors.com (not sure if linking to other sites is ok or not so just copied the text):

Apple is facing a lawsuit over a long-standing issue that prevents iPhones from sending text messages to the Android phones of former iPhone users, reports Bloomberg (via BusinessInsider). Filed by a former iPhone customer, the lawsuit alleges that the user ceased getting messages from iPhone owners after she switched to a non-Apple device.

This is a problem that has afflicted many former iPhone users that switch from an iPhone to another device. After an iPhone is disabled, the users face an issue where iMessages sent from other iPhone owners are routed to a deactivated iPhone rather than being forwarded as a text message to an active phone, causing text messages to disappear.

Earlier this week, former Lifehacker editor-in-chief Adam Pash claimed that Apple is aware of the iMessage issue and unable to provide a fix. An Apple customer support representative told Pash that the iMessage bug is "a problem a lot of people are facing" and that the company's engineering team "is working on it but is apparently clueless as how to fix it."

These errors with iMessage have been a known issue since 2011, which is when the messaging service was first introduced with iOS 5. Apple advises iPhone owners to disable iMessages before deactivating their phones in order to remove the device from their system, but some users have experienced problems even after disabling iMessage.

Some users have had success calling in to Apple to have their numbers removed from the iMessage system and in 2012, TechCrunch detailed a fix involving unregistering products on a user's Support Profile, which has also worked for some people experiencing iMessage issues after switching to a non-Apple device.

Filed in San Jose California, the lawsuit is currently seeking class action status.

 

[Sophos]

Good. I'm surprised it took this long. The issue is ridiculous. Happened to my brother after he switched from an iPhone 4 to a moto x. I was aware of the issue, took all the proper precautions and it still happened. We called apple tech support and asked to have his number removed from their imessage database and were told it would cost us a one time fee of $150. WTF Apple.

I play with my food

 

[wookiee2cu]

Wow $150, that's crazy. I know when you call Apple and go through the automated system it want's to charge you a $19.95 one time tech call fee but as soon as you tell them what the issue is they waive it. When I phoned in and got the automated menu system I just started pushing the zero button and got a rep, told them why I was calling and they transferred me... all in all it was about a 7 minute call. It's obviously a pretty common issue because the gal knew exactly what to do and and raced through everything really fast.

 

[thepun13]

I just went through this issue the other day. I called Apple and told them I want to unregister my phone and they did it without the $20 charge. Sent me a text code and apparently unregistered my device but I was still having some issues.

What I ended up doing was going to this site: https://supportprofile.apple.com
Noticed that while the tech guy unregistered my latest iPhone, my previous 2 iPhones were still registered. Unregistered them and then I changed my device number from my cell phone to my home phone number just to get my number out of their system.

I think it's working fine now but I'm still paranoid about missing text messages.

 

[Golfdriver97]

There's been a few threads regarding the texting issues for those who have switched from an iPhone to droid, just ran across this article on macrumors.com (not sure if linking to other sites is ok or not so just copied the text):

Apple is facing a lawsuit over a long-standing issue that prevents iPhones from sending text messages to the Android phones of former iPhone users, reports Bloomberg (via BusinessInsider). Filed by a former iPhone customer, the lawsuit alleges that the user ceased getting messages from iPhone owners after she switched to a non-Apple device.

This is a problem that has afflicted many former iPhone users that switch from an iPhone to another device. After an iPhone is disabled, the users face an issue where iMessages sent from other iPhone owners are routed to a deactivated iPhone rather than being forwarded as a text message to an active phone, causing text messages to disappear.

Earlier this week, former Lifehacker editor-in-chief Adam Pash claimed that Apple is aware of the iMessage issue and unable to provide a fix. An Apple customer support representative told Pash that the iMessage bug is "a problem a lot of people are facing" and that the company's engineering team "is working on it but is apparently clueless as how to fix it."

These errors with iMessage have been a known issue since 2011, which is when the messaging service was first introduced with iOS 5. Apple advises iPhone owners to disable iMessages before deactivating their phones in order to remove the device from their system, but some users have experienced problems even after disabling iMessage.

Some users have had success calling in to Apple to have their numbers removed from the iMessage system and in 2012, TechCrunch detailed a fix involving unregistering products on a user's Support Profile, which has also worked for some people experiencing iMessage issues after switching to a non-Apple device.

Filed in San Jose California, the lawsuit is currently seeking class action status.

Is this the link you are referring to:Apple Being Sued Over Phone-Switching iMessage Issue - Mac Rumors

 

[wookiee2cu]

Yes, some sites don't allow linking to other sites and I didn't know if that was true for Android Central so I just copied the article.

 

[Aquila]

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[Aquila]

Speaking of, our blog post arrived:

Apple and Motorola settle their patent fight | Android Central

 

[z33dev33l]

This needs to be made class action...

 

[Aquila]

This needs to be made class action...

I think that is the direction that they're going. We definitely deal with this issue a lot in the forums. It actually seems to cause quite a few people to change their mind and go back to their iPhones and on a business scale, lost texts can be a big deal.

 

[z33dev33l]

I think that is the direction that they're going. We definitely deal with this issue a lot in the forums. It actually seems to cause quite a few people to change their mind and go back to their iPhones and on a business scale, lost texts can be a big deal.

I used a 4s for 2-3 weeks. After that, I was stuck in the iMessage loop for another two. It turned me off of Apple even more.

 

[LeoRex]

Guess impending lawsuits and media firestorms is how you get things done at Apple

Saw this just pop up

Apple partially fixed the issue that was making life hard for Android switchers

My my... how convenient... only a scant couple of days removed from a building crap-storm of angst over their disregard for users who left their sheltered little world, Apple has, at least partially, 'fixed' the issue. I wonder if they dropped the $20 shakedown as well.

 

[Croupier]

imessage issue being fixed by apple?

It looks like apple is acklowledging and addressing some of the issues we have been having with imessage/text messages when switching from apple. Yay! Hopefully that helps some of us out.

Apple will fix iMessage bug that makes it harder to leave the service | Ars Technica

 

[sting7k]

Re: Guess impending lawsuits and media firestorms is how you get things done at Apple

Better source;

Apple fixes server-side iMessage bug, will fix additional bug in future software update | iMore

 

[z33dev33l]

Re: Guess impending lawsuits and media firestorms is how you get things done at Apple

One's Apple-biased and one's Android-biased? How is one better than the other?

 

[wookiee2cu]

Re: imessage issue being fixed by apple?

The server bug is only one of the issues, it looks like it will still be problematic after reading this Apple to fix iMessage bug that causes ex-iPhone users to lose their texts

 

[LeoRex]

Re: Guess impending lawsuits and media firestorms is how you get things done at Apple

Apple has fixed a server-side bug in iMessage, their SMS/MMS-like instant messaging service for iOS and OS X, which was causing some problems

Heh..... bias or not... that's some good ifanboy speak right there. You have to go down into the comments before you even see the word "lawsuit". You read that article and it's "Why would Apple fix some stupid issue that affects like 5 people? Don't ruins our beautiful, precious iMessage plz!"

 

[rav813]

So true

I can't believe it hasn't been addressed/fixed yet. They knew about it and decided to ignore it so people would get frustrated and come back to Apple. It's just poor business ethics. And because it's Apple, this wasn't all over the media; unlike other mobile companies who can sneeze and the media would be like "oh they suck, they're going out of business, etc"

Posted via Android Central App

 

[mumfoau]

I switched on Wednesday and have had no issues where I have on my past switches. This time, I logged out of my Apple account in messages first then turned off the iMessage switch! Set up my G2 and texts from iPhone users immediately started coming through!

Sent from my LG G2 using Tapatalk