Apple promises to fix iMessage bug that holds text messages ransom

Apple has acknowledged the existence of an iMessage bug that makes text messages disappear for users moving to another phone.

iMessage is Apple’s universal messaging app that sends messages over the internet, saving on expensive texting plans. The app only works with other iMessage users and will default to texting if the recipient doesn’t have iMessage.

The problem arises when a user switches from using an iPhone to another phone with the same number. iMessage recognizes that number as still being tied to an iPhone, forcing the app to send an iMessage instead of a text.

This creates a huge problem for people who transition to another phone. Messages are intercepted and lost in Apple’s iMessage cloud.

Apple recommends users turn off the iMessage feature on their iPhones before switching to a non-Apple device. This is still a major problem as most users will not think about this until it’s too late.

Apple responded about the bug saying, “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.”

There’s no word when the next bug fix will be released.

Source: Re/code

Follow Lewis on Twitter @lewisleong

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