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I deregistered my number and I still have messages that are delivered to my iPad instead of my android phone. If it wasn’t for that iPad next to my bed, I woul

I deregistered my number and I still have messages that are delivered to my iPad instead of my android phone. If it wasn’t for that iPad next to my bed, I would have lost contact with some people entirely. What Apple’s doing should be fucking prosecuted by the FCC or FTC. It’s outrageous.

Angostura 7y ago
I suspect those messages mighty be using e-mail rather than phone number as the identifier.
- CoolGuySteve 7y ago
  So what, if iMessage is the default SMS app and it sends to an unregistered iCloud account, it should either translate to SMS or give an error. The last thing it should do is silently send a message to an inactive account such that it looks like I ghosted the person.
  - pflats 7y ago
    The process deregisters the phone number from the account; it does not shut down the entire iCloud account or disable iMessage entirely. "iMessages" sent to your phone number will be translated to SMS. iMessages sent to your email address will still be delivered to the account associated with that email address. They can be accessed on pretty much any modern apple device associated with that account. It's rare that people intentionally iMessage an email address, but the interface is opaque enough that it's essentially impossible on an existing text chain to tell that you did (unless you're specifically looking for that information). The behavior as implemented makes sense provided that every user made an intentional and informed choice when choosing to message a friend via phone number or email. That is, of course, not the case (and is not helped by Siri sometimes silently deciding to use a contact's email over their phone number).
  - amdavidson 7y ago
    It is not an unregistered account if it is being received on an iPad. Further, if you are not logged in with the account on at least one device, it will not show as delivered.
dpkonofa 7y ago
iPads don't have phone numbers so the person sending you the message is sending it to an Apple ID, not a phone number. This is working exactly the way it's supposed to.
- CoolGuySteve 7y ago
  No, it's really not. If I unregister from iMessage the last thing that should happen is my Apple ID swallowing messages from people's iPhones. Return an error or redirect to SMS, it's not that fucking hard. The one thing you are right about is that it's an intentional dark pattern on Apple's part to obsfucate Apple IDs and phone numbers. It's an illegal anticompetitve strategy.
  - dpkonofa 7y ago
    No, you're misunderstanding what's happening. If you unregister your phone number from iMessage, then that's the end of it. People sending messages to your phone number will get SMS messages. It is impossible for a de-registered phone number to receive iMessages on an iPad. What's actually happening is that the people who are sending you messages are sending them to your Apple ID instead and iMessage is always registered to an Apple ID so the messages are delivered to your iPad. It's not swallowing anyone's messages from people's iPhones because that's literally not possible. It's not a dark pattern. It's not an illegal anti-competitive strategy. It's a successful delivery of a message to the recipient address it was sent to that you're simply misunderstanding.
    - CoolGuySteve 7y ago
      I'm not misunderstanding anything. I want to opt out of iMessage being bound to my Apple ID. I don't give a shit what address or phone number people think they're sending to, when they see my name on their iPhone, it's the wrong address. The only reason my iPad even has iMessage installed is because people were sending me messages that got disappeared by Apple's abysmal policy. Why is this so hard for you to understand? Apple is the richest company in the world but for some reason their process for delisting your Apple ID from iMessage is a huge fucking joke. There's no way this is not an intentional decision on their part.

Angostura 7y ago

I suspect those messages mighty be using e-mail rather than phone number as the identifier.

CoolGuySteve 7y ago
So what, if iMessage is the default SMS app and it sends to an unregistered iCloud account, it should either translate to SMS or give an error. The last thing it should do is silently send a message to an inactive account such that it looks like I ghosted the person.
- pflats 7y ago
  The process deregisters the phone number from the account; it does not shut down the entire iCloud account or disable iMessage entirely. "iMessages" sent to your phone number will be translated to SMS. iMessages sent to your email address will still be delivered to the account associated with that email address. They can be accessed on pretty much any modern apple device associated with that account. It's rare that people intentionally iMessage an email address, but the interface is opaque enough that it's essentially impossible on an existing text chain to tell that you did (unless you're specifically looking for that information). The behavior as implemented makes sense provided that every user made an intentional and informed choice when choosing to message a friend via phone number or email. That is, of course, not the case (and is not helped by Siri sometimes silently deciding to use a contact's email over their phone number).
- amdavidson 7y ago
  It is not an unregistered account if it is being received on an iPad. Further, if you are not logged in with the account on at least one device, it will not show as delivered.

dpkonofa 7y ago

iPads don't have phone numbers so the person sending you the message is sending it to an Apple ID, not a phone number. This is working exactly the way it's supposed to.

CoolGuySteve 7y ago
No, it's really not. If I unregister from iMessage the last thing that should happen is my Apple ID swallowing messages from people's iPhones. Return an error or redirect to SMS, it's not that fucking hard. The one thing you are right about is that it's an intentional dark pattern on Apple's part to obsfucate Apple IDs and phone numbers. It's an illegal anticompetitve strategy.
- dpkonofa 7y ago
  No, you're misunderstanding what's happening. If you unregister your phone number from iMessage, then that's the end of it. People sending messages to your phone number will get SMS messages. It is impossible for a de-registered phone number to receive iMessages on an iPad. What's actually happening is that the people who are sending you messages are sending them to your Apple ID instead and iMessage is always registered to an Apple ID so the messages are delivered to your iPad. It's not swallowing anyone's messages from people's iPhones because that's literally not possible. It's not a dark pattern. It's not an illegal anti-competitive strategy. It's a successful delivery of a message to the recipient address it was sent to that you're simply misunderstanding.
  - CoolGuySteve 7y ago
    I'm not misunderstanding anything. I want to opt out of iMessage being bound to my Apple ID. I don't give a shit what address or phone number people think they're sending to, when they see my name on their iPhone, it's the wrong address. The only reason my iPad even has iMessage installed is because people were sending me messages that got disappeared by Apple's abysmal policy. Why is this so hard for you to understand? Apple is the richest company in the world but for some reason their process for delisting your Apple ID from iMessage is a huge fucking joke. There's no way this is not an intentional decision on their part.