If you switched from an iPhone to an Android smartphone and stopped receiving text messages from your iPhone-toting friends, you aren't alone. Even worse, Apple is aware of the problem, but apparently has no idea how to fix it.
iMessage bug may eat text messages after you switch from iPhone to a different smartphone
The problem crops up after switching from an iPhone to an Android phone if you also used Apple's iMessage service. Your phone number apparently doesn't unlink from iMessage, so texts from your iPhone using friends simply disappear into the ether, but appear to them as if they were delivered.
Adam Pash, formerly from Lifehacker, detailed his frustration from trying to resolve the problem with Apple tech support saying, "The engineering team is working on it but is apparently clueless as to how to fix it."
There are several suggested fixes for the issue, but none seem to be sure-fire solutions to the problem. In Mr. Pash's case, none have been effective.
He said,
In the meantime, Apple has completely hijacked my text messaging and my phone number portability (portability between devices, not networks). No one can fix this but Apple because it's a problem at the device level, which means people in my position have no recourse but to wait for Apple to figure out what the problem is.
Since the messages appear to have been delivered, senders don't have the option of resending as SMS. That means once a message is sent, there isn't any way to try again.
This isn't a problem if you're changing phone numbers along with smartphone platforms because iMessage is linked to you specific number. The upside is that you can see your iMessage conversations across all of your iOS devices and your Mac, and presumably those lost texts will still show up on other devices that are still linked to your number even if your smartphone isn't on the list.
For now, it seems switchers are at the mercy of Apple awaiting a solution to their lost text message problems, and there isn't any hint that a fix is coming soon.
[Some image elements courtesy Shutterstock]