Instant Alert: Anyone Else Having Problems With Apple's iMessage?

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December 26, 2011

Anyone Else Having Problems With Apple's iMessage?

by Henry Blodget on Dec 26, 2011, 10:13 PM

When Apple announced its latest operating system upgrade a few months ago, there was one feature I was excited about:

iMessage.

This was the iPhone-to-iPhone texting tool that would allow iPhone owners to circumvent the ridiculous fees the carriers charge for text messages.

Instead, iPhone owners would be able to text each other via iMessage for free, no matter how many texts they sent.

iMessage sounded cool, but I didn't bother to upgrade my iPhone's OS immediately, so I forgot about it. Then, last week I finally upgraded--after spilling a cup of tea in my previous MacBook (long story) and deciding it was time to get started with iCloud.

Anyway, after I upgraded, I found I was using iMessage when texting with folks who had iPhones.

And, initially, it appeared to work fine. It was just like texting, except with some blue text-blurb windows instead of the regular green.

But then, suddenly, I found that I was in the dog house at home over having not done something I was supposed to have done, even though I didn't know that I had been supposed to do it. And when I inquired about that--about how I was supposed to have known--I learned that I was supposed to have known because of the text message I had been sent. And when I protested that I had never gotten a text telling me what I was supposed to have known, I got the look that said "Like hell you didn't get that text."

So I checked my iPhone again. And I really hadn't gotten that text. And I didn't get that text until the next day, when it showed up as though it had just been sent.

And then, today, I got a repeat iMessage from the same person four times in rapid succession.

So it seems like iMessage was seriously on the fritz.

I asked my Twitter followers whether they were having any problems with iMessage. Of those who responded, about half said that they had been having similar problems. The other half said everything was perfect.

So, based on this small sample, it seems like Apple's having some glitches with its carrier-circumventing texting-killer iMessage.

Anyone else seeing this?

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