Apple has
been ordered to face a U.S. federal lawsuit claiming it failed to tell
consumers that its iMessage would block them from receiving text
messages if they switched to Android-based smartphones.
Once iMessage is enabled, Apple routes messages from other iPhones through it.
However,
this can continue even when a number is switched to an Android phone,
without access to the service, meaning if anyone sends an iMessage to
that number it doesn't get converted to a text, and ultimately ends up
lost in the ether.
HOW TO DEREGISTER IMESSAGE
If you still have the iPhone you were using before you switched, transfer your SIM card temporarily back into the iOS device.
Make sure the phone is connected to a network.
Click Settings, Messages and turn iMessage off.
If you no longer have the iPhone, open Apple's new tool.
Select the correct country from the drop-down menu and type in the number.
Click 'Send code'.
Enter the six-digit code that is sent to that number into the box below, and select Submit.
U.S.
District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, California said Apple must face
plaintiff Adrienne Moore's claim that the message blocking interfered
with her contract with Verizon Wireless for wireless service, which she
kept after switching in April to a Samsung Galaxy S5 from an iPhone 4.
Moore,
who seeks class-action status and unspecified damages, claimed that
Apple failed to disclose how its iOS 5 software operating system would
obstruct the delivery of 'countless' messages from other Apple device
users if iPhone users switched to non-Apple devices.
In
a Monday night decision, Koh said Moore deserved a chance to show Apple
disrupted her wireless service contract and violated a California
unfair competition law, by blocking messages meant for her.
'Plaintiff
does not have to allege an absolute right to receive every text message
in order to allege that Apple's intentional acts have caused an actual
breach or disruption of the contractual relationship,' Koh wrote.
The judge also dismissed some claims tied to another California consumer protection law.
Apple did not immediately respond on Tuesday to requests for comment.
Roy Katriel, a lawyer for Moore, did not immediately respond to similar requests.
In court
papers, Apple said it never claimed that its iMessage service and
Messages application, which ran with iOS 5, would recognize when iPhone
users switched to rival devices.
'Apple
takes customer satisfaction extremely seriously, but the law does not
provide a remedy when, as here, technology simply does not function as
plaintiff subjectively believes it should,' the Cupertino,
California-based company said.
Earlier
this week Apple released a tool that will help people deregister their
number from iMessage, or disable the service, to stop this from
happening.
The tool,
first spotted by a Reddit user, lets current or previous iPhone owners
enter their phone number to deregister it from iMessage.
They are then sent a six-digit code to confirm they want to remove it.
Alternatively,
people who still own an iPhone and are selling it, or want to simply
switch the service off, can click Settings, Messages and Turn iMessage
off.
When purchasing an iPhone, a number is typically linked to the firm's iMessage service upon registration.
When a message is sent between enabled iOS devices, Apple sends it as an iMessage - rather than as a text.
iMessages are sent using a web connection, rather than a network connection.
But,
when a person switches their number to a new phone, such as an Android,
that particular number can remain linked to iMessage.
When an iOS user then sends that mobile number a message, Apple can end up routing it through its web service.
But without access to iMessages, the recipient doesn't receive it unless the sender resends it as a text.
Previously, the only solution was to deregister the old device completely from their Apple accounts.
The bug can also affect iPads that have a 3G connection and use a number.
In
May, Apple said it was addressing bugs within its iMessaging system
that caused text messages to become lost when the recipient switched to a
non-Apple phone.
Alternatively, people who still own an
iPhone and are selling it, or want to simply switch the service off,
can click Settings, Messages and Turn iMessage off. iMessages are sent
using a web connection, rather than a network connection. But, when a
person switches their number to a new phone that number can remain
linked
But one disgruntled customer was so annoyed about missing messages, she filed a lawsuit against the firm.
Adrienne Moore claimed the company failed to disclose its knowledge of the problem.
The
issue does not appear to affect all previous iPhone users, but Apple
issued a statement that it had 'fixed a server-side iMessage bug which
was causing an issue for some users,' and was working on an additional
fix for future software updates.
This latest tool offers such a fix.
Source: Dailymail
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