Many people have come across some problems while using iMessage, including group messages not working or messages being sent as texts. The issues with iMessage are not new and they continue affecting users who have upgraded to iOS 8.
We have compiled a list of the main issues that users may experience since the upgrade, as well as their possible solutions.
iMessage And FaceTime Won’t Start
After updating to iOS 8, iMessage and FaceTime does not work for some users and all they get is a message stating “waiting to activate”. You can follow the below steps to try to fix the issue and use iMessage again:
- Go to Settings and turn off iMessage and FaceTime.
- Turn on the Airplane mode to disable Wi-Fi automatically
- Go back to Messages and turn on iMessage. If you have not added your Apple ID yet, you will be asked for it.
- Go back to Settings and turn off Airplane mode
- If you see a notification saying that your carrier may charge for SMS, tap on OK
- Go to Messages and turn off iMessage, then turn it on again
- iMessage should be activated after a few seconds
- The number and email ID would appear greyed out at first but after a short while, it will be active.
iMessage Doesn’t Use Phone Number
Those who have upgraded to iOS8 may also notice that the option to use their phone number to send iMessages doesn’t appear to be available. In Settings, the phone number is listed but you cannot select it because it is grayed out. This means that all iMessages would be sent only by email or iCloud ID. What you can do to solve this is to go to Settings and disable iMessage and Facetime. In Settings, go to General and scroll down to Reset and then select “Reset Your Network Settings”. After resetting, check that you are connected to Wi-Fi and enable iMessage and Facetime. Your phone number should now be available as an option to send iMessages.
iMessage Group Chat Not Working
One of the main iMessage problems in iOS 8 is that when you try to send a message to multiple contacts, it will be sent as a text message. You can send an individual iMessage to someone without hassle, but the issue starts when you try to include more people in the message as it is then changed to SMS. The simplest way to fix this is to delete the old group conversation and then start a new one with the same contacts. This should allow you to continue the conversations sending iMessages and not texts.
Unable To Send/Receive Messages From People Not Using iMessage/iPhone In A Group Chat
There may be users in a group conversation who do not use iMessage or iPhone and you may notice that you are not able to send or receive messages from them. To address this issue, you can go to Settings, then Messages and check that the group messaging option is active.
