Apple Releases Partial Fix on Apple-to-Android iMessage Problem

Apple rolled out a series of bug fixes for Apple-to-Android messaging on Wednesday, after recognizing the problems with its Internet-based messaging service, iMessage.

iMessage is a service that allows users to send instant messages to each other instead of text messages. It lets users bypass carrier fees by moving messages through Apple's own servers.

People who switched to Android devices from iPhones reported problems disassociating their phone numbers from iMessage. Text messages sent to Android devices weren't issued as text messages. The messages ended up going straight into Apple's servers and were never delivered.

Some users succeeded in rectifying the problem by turning off iMessage on all of their Apple devices, but those who weren't able to turn off before getting rid of their old devices were unable to fix the problem.

As a result, Apple received a number of complaints calling for the company to deal with the problem. Users have reportedly complained about the issue since 2011, when iMessage first appeared with Apple iOS 5. One consumer even filed a lawsuit against Apple over the issue.

The California resident argued that Apple had penalized those who switched from iPhone to non-Apple devices, resulting in their inability to make full use of their wireless service contracts, CNN reported.

In a statement to Re/code, Apple said that it is coming out with fixes. "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 did not give a timeline for the implementation of the new bug fix. It also did not make a comment on the lawsuit.

In the meantime, users could also use CNET's tips to fix the iMessage bug - if disabling the service did not work, try resetting the Apple ID password, or call AppleCare to have the phone number deleted from the company's server.

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