WEBVTT - Switched from iPhone to Android, Can't Get Texts

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<v Speaker 1>Getting your texts when you switch from iPhone to Android.

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<v Speaker 2>What's going on? I'm Rich Dmiro, this is Rich on tech.

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<v Speaker 2>You know.

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<v Speaker 1>I get a lot of emails from you guys. Thanks

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<v Speaker 1>for trusting me to answer them, which I do as

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<v Speaker 1>much as possible. It might take me a little bit

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<v Speaker 1>to write you back sometimes really all depends on my schedule,

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<v Speaker 1>but I do try to respond. So I figured it

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<v Speaker 1>in today's podcast. Let's open up the mailbag and answer

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<v Speaker 1>a question. This is a common one, so I think

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<v Speaker 1>it's a good thing to know about, Faby wrote in

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<v Speaker 1>thanks for keeping us informed with all the tech around us.

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<v Speaker 1>I recently switched from an iPhone six plus to a

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<v Speaker 1>Samsung nine plus.

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<v Speaker 2>But the problem is that.

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<v Speaker 1>My iPhone receives messages from friends that have iPhones, but

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<v Speaker 1>the messages don't go through the s nine plus. My

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<v Speaker 1>kid only uses the iPhone through Wi Fi in the house.

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<v Speaker 1>What can I do to fix the problem. This is

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<v Speaker 1>a great question, Faby, and it happens to a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of people. It used to be a lot worse, but

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<v Speaker 1>now it's getting a little bit better since Apple has

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<v Speaker 1>changed some things. But what's happening basically is that I

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<v Speaker 1>message is still handling your text.

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<v Speaker 2>Messages even though you switch to a new phone.

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<v Speaker 1>It's a very common issue when you switch from iPhone

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<v Speaker 1>to Android.

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<v Speaker 2>Let me explain.

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<v Speaker 1>So, when you set up an iPhone, there's a message

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<v Speaker 1>that asks if you want to activate I Message. This

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<v Speaker 1>is Apple's proprietary text messaging program. It looks like a text,

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<v Speaker 1>but it's really being sent through Apple servers, and you

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<v Speaker 1>get some benefits because of that when you do this.

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<v Speaker 1>When you turn on this feature, Apple basically turns your

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<v Speaker 1>phone number into an I Message ID, kind of like

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<v Speaker 1>think about it a username on any other service, except

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<v Speaker 1>in this case, it's literally using your phone number. Then,

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<v Speaker 1>when you go to text someone, if Apple notices that

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<v Speaker 1>that person is also using I Message, it will route

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<v Speaker 1>your text message through their own messaging system and not

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<v Speaker 1>the carriers. So it's actually Apple delivering your message. And

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<v Speaker 1>all this is happening in a pretty invisible way to you,

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<v Speaker 1>the end user. Your only indication that this is all

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<v Speaker 1>going on is that I messages are shown in blue,

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<v Speaker 1>and regular old fashioned SMS or text messages are shown

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<v Speaker 1>in green. Perhaps that's a nod to Android's green color.

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<v Speaker 2>I don't know.

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<v Speaker 1>I messages look and act like text messages, but they

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<v Speaker 1>also have kind of some superpowers, like you can send

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<v Speaker 1>full resolution photos, big videos.

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<v Speaker 2>You can see when someone's looked at your message or

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<v Speaker 2>when they're typing a reply. People love this.

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<v Speaker 1>It's one of the top features on the iPhone. It's

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<v Speaker 1>something that Apple created and it's pretty brilliant and it

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<v Speaker 1>works pretty well until you switch to an Android. Apple

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<v Speaker 1>doesn't necessarily know that your phone number has left their

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<v Speaker 1>system now. Since your number is still linked to an

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<v Speaker 1>I Message account, iPhones and other devices basically are still

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<v Speaker 1>trying to route your text through I Message. This means

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<v Speaker 1>that you might still see your I messages on another

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<v Speaker 1>Apple device, like a maccomputer or an iPad, even though

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<v Speaker 1>your phone isn't getting them your new phone that is

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<v Speaker 1>the S nine. What you need to do is deactivate

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<v Speaker 1>or de register your phone number from I Message.

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<v Speaker 2>You can do this in two different ways.

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<v Speaker 1>You can go into your iPhone before you swap it

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<v Speaker 1>out for an Android, then go into messages and turn

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<v Speaker 1>off the toggle for I Message. This will tell Apple

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<v Speaker 1>that you don't want to get your messages through I

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<v Speaker 1>Message anymore. You also need to do the same for

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<v Speaker 1>FaceTime if you've already wiped your phone or you don't

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<v Speaker 1>have it, or you've gotten rid of it. You can

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<v Speaker 1>then use a special website that Apple's set up to

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<v Speaker 1>help you do this if you don't have your phone.

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<v Speaker 1>It's called deregister I Message, and you can find a

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<v Speaker 1>link to it in the show notes. Or you can

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<v Speaker 1>go to self solve dot Apple dot com slash deregister

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<v Speaker 1>dash I message. I know that's a handful, but once

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<v Speaker 1>you go to this website, you pop in your phone number.

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<v Speaker 1>Apple will send you a text to confirm that you

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<v Speaker 1>still own the number.

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<v Speaker 2>They don't want you doing this for your friends.

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<v Speaker 1>Then I message will be deactivated. Now, keep in mind

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<v Speaker 1>it can take up to twenty four hours for all

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<v Speaker 1>of this to actually kick in. That means for your

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<v Speaker 1>phone number deactivation to sort of propagate through Apple systems.

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<v Speaker 1>In that time, friends might still not be able to

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<v Speaker 1>send you text messages. Now, this used to be a

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<v Speaker 1>lot worse, this kind of problem, but it's gotten a

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<v Speaker 1>lot better in recent years.

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<v Speaker 2>I think Apple's kind of gotten hip to this.

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<v Speaker 1>If things aren't working after a long time and your

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<v Speaker 1>friends still can't get their messages through to you texting

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<v Speaker 1>from iPhones, that is, you can tell them to delete

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<v Speaker 1>your entire previous message conversation and start over from scratch.

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<v Speaker 1>Usually deleting that then making a new text message with

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<v Speaker 1>your phone number to the Android phone will definitely work.

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<v Speaker 2>They're gonna lose.

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<v Speaker 1>Your entire message history together, but that usually fixes the

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<v Speaker 1>problem as a last resort. So there's the long short

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<v Speaker 1>answer to your question. Fabi, Thanks so much for writing in,

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<v Speaker 1>and I think it helped a lot of people because

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<v Speaker 1>this happens a lot. I get this question very often.

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<v Speaker 1>If you have a question for me, just go to

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<v Speaker 1>my website to ask Rich on tech dot, TV, slash contact,

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<v Speaker 1>and as always I will do my best to respond.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks so much for listening. I'm Rich Damiro I'll talk

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<v Speaker 1>to you real soon.