Thanks to an ongoing issue with the way Apple built its iMessage platform, users who switch away from an iPhone to an Android phone or any other cell phone are faced with a huge problem: once they bail on the iPhone, they often can’t receive text messages from contacts who are still using iPhones. This is because Apple’s system still sees them as iMessage users, and it tries to deliver messages sent using Apple’s Messages app as iMessages. To make matters even worse, the iPhone users who send those messages see their status as “delivered” even though they are not being received.
Thankfully, there are ways to avoid this annoying bug if you’re planning to make the switch from iOS to another platform.
Business Insider has put together a nice quick guide showing people how to disable iMessage completely before you switch to a new smartphone. This will help ensure that once you get your new device, all of your contacts who still use iPhones will be able to continue messaging you.
First, users have to disable iMessage on their iPhones. This can be done in a matter of seconds by opening the Settings app and tapping Messages. Then slide the toggle next to iMessage to the off position.
One might think that’s all there is to it, but there are additional steps that can be taken in order to ensure you get all of your messages on your new phone.
Taken from a guide published by iMore back in January, the post goes on to explain how to remove your phone number from iCloud. Even that doesn’t always do the trick, however, and sometimes it’s a good idea to have family members and close friends delete your number from their phones and then add it again once you’ve taken the aforementioned steps.
The processes mentioned above are detailed in the how-to guide linked down in our source section, along with some more tips on how to ensure you’re not affected by this annoying iMessage bug.
