Software
Apple's iPhone has an aggravating bug with text messages
If you've found that you're sending text SMS and iMessages from people but don't get any updates about them, you're not alone. It's far from it. I'm one of a lot of users with an irritating bug where the notifications come out fine—but without any pop-up warning or even the usual red badge to show that there's a new message waiting to be opened.
Last month, MacRumors wrote about growing trouble reports on new iPhone 12, 12 mini, 12 Super, and 12 Pro Max phones. But it also seems to affect people with older iPhones, so this is looking more and more like an iOS 14 problem. What makes the glitch more aggravating is that it doesn't always happen. I've found that some messages pop up on my lock screen as usual, but others just roll in with me being no wiser.
People in the very broad MacRumors forum have been trying to come up with workarounds like shutting off notifications on a Mac, or removing and re-adding contacts. Some people note that they get alerts if they cause the Messages program to be closed any time they send a text. And in some situations, missed alerts only arise with pinned conversations, and unpinned contacts appear to do the trick. There are occasional success stories for these short-term solutions, but they're not working with everybody. There is also this 42-page post on the company's help pages about continuing frustrations.
Many concerned with the problem are rightly disappointed that Apple has not yet released a comprehensive patch. It's pretty simple stuff, and it's potentially creating some uncomfortable discussions between partners or friends when messages just sit there for hours without the receiver knowing they're coming.
And if you're thinking that it's all going to be all right next week as IOS 14.3 launches, I wouldn't be so confident. Early reports suggest that the no-text-notification bug is still present—at least in certain cases—in the second release candidate build iOS 14.3 that Apple yesterday sent out to public beta testers.
The Verge has contacted Apple for more information about the state of this bug and the company's efforts to fix it.
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
