iOS 10 finally brings flair to iMessage so that we now have a vibrant message experience that includes emoji, invisible ink, animated backgrounds, digital touch, bubble effects, handwriting, and tons of stickers.
iOS 10 is also Apple’s first foray into opening up iMessage to third-party developers. So our iMessage experience is getting a lot more interesting and fun, as developers deliver new add-ons to our Messages.
iMessage is changing the way we communicate via our smartphones, acting as a hub for all sorts of different experiences. But as iMessage grows increasingly complex, so too do our issues and problems with the app.
iOS 10 users report several problems with their iMessages apps after updating to the latest iOS. If you upgraded to the newest iOS and are having issues with iMessage and Messages, here are some tips to help you troubleshoot.
Contents
- 1 These Top Tips Fix Most iMessage Problems
- 2 iMessage Problems: Effects Not Working
- 3 Bubble Effects Not Appearing in iMessage
- 4 Screen Effects Not Appearing in iMessage
- 5 Handwriting Feature in iMessage Not Working?
- 6 Predictive Emoji Not Working in iMessage?
- 7 iMessage Problems When Sending or Receiving Messages
- 8 Delayed Text Messages
- 9 Recipients Get the Same iMessage Twice
- 10 Waiting for Activation Error in iMessage
- 11 iMessage Keeps on Crashing While Trying to Type
- 12 “Service Denied” Text Message from “Unknown?”
- 13 And Always Remember to Clean Up!
- 14 Reader Tips
- 15 Summary
Using a Different iOS version?
- See this article for problems with iOS 12 iMessage and Message App
- If you’re using iOS 11 and experiencing Message problems, please see this article
- And if you’re still using iOS 9, check out this article to fix your iOS 9 Message problems
These Top Tips Fix Most iMessage Problems
- Make sure you are applying sufficient finger or stylus pressure to the Message send button (the upward pointing arrow icon to the right of your message.) And that you are holding that touch longer than usual to allow the send with effects menu to appear.
- For iFolks with 3D Touch, a light touch is all you need
- For iFolks without 3D Touch, a firm and long touch is what you need
- Restart Messages app by double tapping the Home button then swipe to the app to force quit. This action force stops the Messages app. You don’t lose any data or messages. Then relaunch the Messages app
- Restart your iOS device by pressing and holding the off/on button until you see the slider. Then slide the slider to turn off your device
- Turn on Airplane Mode and turn off by going to Settings > Airplane Mode
- Turn off and on iMessage by going to Settings > Messages
Connections and Settings Tips
- It is likely that a connection problem may cause this issue. Resetting network settings may fix this. Simply Tap Settings > General > Reset > choose Reset Network Settings
- Some users stated that turning off Wi-Fi Assist fixes this problem. If you want to try this tip, go to Settings > Cellular > and turn off Wi-Fi Assist
- Make sure that the Date and Time setting is chosen “Set Automatically” by going to Settings > General > Date & Time
- Reset All Settings by opening up Settings > General. Scroll down and tap on Reset. Choose Reset All Settings. Enter your passcode if asked and choose Reset All Settings again. This resets all the settings on your iDevice. But, it won’t delete any media or data
- Try to change your DNS settings and try again if this solves your iMessage problem. To do this, tap Settings > Wi-Fi. Locate your wireless connection then tap the (i) button. Now tap the DNS field and enter 8.8.8.8 or 8.8.4.4 (this is Google’s public DNS)
If none of these Top Tips worked for you, then let’s drill down into some specific issues iFolks reported with iMessage and Messages in iOS10 and later.
iMessage Problems: Effects Not Working
One of the most common complaints is that the new iOS 10 iMessage effects are not working. If you experience these iMessage problems, the first thing to check is that both you (the sender) and the message recipient are running iOS 10 or higher.
The full effects of iMessage only work when all receiving devices are running the latest iOS. If not, then many of the cool animations transmit as static images.
Also, ensure that you are sending your messages via iMessage and not as SMS Text Messages. The quick and easy way to tell is iMessages are blue, and SMS/MMS Texts are green. Effects only work on iMessage texts–the blue ones.
Bubble Effects Not Appearing in iMessage
A frequent issue is that the bubble effects are not appearing up when holding down the send button.
What Bubble Effects Do in iMessage
- Slam: Stamps the bubble down and makes the entire screen ripple
- Loud: Sends a giant bubble that shakes before settling down into place
- Gentle: Sends a tiny bubble that meekly slips into place
- Invisible ink: Covers the bubble in animated noise and blur until you swipe it out of the way
The first thing to verify is that Reduce Motion is OFF. Check General>Accessibility>Reduce Motion>Off.
Also, we discovered that bubble effects work only when pressing the send button on 3D Touch iPhones and iDevices. For non-3D Touch iDevices, bubble effects only appear when you do a long press on the send button (the upward pointing arrow icon to the right of your message.)
Screen Effects Not Appearing in iMessage
Another one of iMessage problems is that the screen effects are not showing up when adding to your message.
What Screen Effects Do in iMessage
- Balloons: Sends multi-color balloons expanding and flying up from screen bottom
- Confetti: Drops multi-color confetti from screen top
- Lasers: Fills the screen with lasers and sound
- Fireworks: Sets off multi-color fireworks
- Shooting stars: Shoots starbursts from screen left and exploded as it moves right
Similar to bubble effects verify is that Reduce Motion is OFF.
Check General>Accessibility>Reduce Motion>Off
How You Press Send is Important
Make sure you press firmly on the send button for 3D Touch iPhones and iDevices. For non-3D Touch iDevices, do a long press on the send button (the upward pointing arrow icon to the right of your message.)
At the top of your iDevice, select the Screen tab and swipe right to switch effect type. Once picked press the send button–the blue upward-pointing arrow icon to the right of your message.
Handwriting Feature in iMessage Not Working?
If the handwritten keyboard doesn’t automatically come up, rotate your screen to landscape, and tap the hand-drawn loop button located in the bottom-right of your on-screen keyboard. The handwriting button looks like an upside down hand-scripted “e.”
To bring back the regular keyboard from the handwriting view, tap the keyboard icon on the bottom right corner.
Predictive Emoji Not Working in iMessage?
iOS takes emojis to a new level! Literally, at our fingertips, we have heaps of emoji icons to express our feelings from moment to moment.
Built into iOS 10 is an excellent predictive quick type keyboard feature that suggests emojis replace regular words.
So if you type in a dragon, the text changes to orange indicating that a dragon emoji is available to replace the word. Tap on the orange to replace with emoji or ignore to keep your word.
Bear in mind that an emoji is available only for words that have an associated emoji.
Unfortunately, some iMessage users are experiencing issues with predictive emoji showing up. Often, the predictive text bar fails to display a corresponding emoji, so users are forced to find them manually.
The good news for your emoji-lovers is that we have a couple of fixes for you! See this article for more in-depth tips on fixing problems with emoji.
A Word of Caution for Multiple Keyboard Users
If you have multiple keyboards installed, long press the globe icon and select the Emoji keyboard. Also note, that at this time predictive emoji DOES NOT work in the Gboard Keyboard and other third-party keyboards.
Instead, Gboard offers emoji suggestions in the keyboard’s top bar, to the right of the Google icon.
Predictive Emoji Fix #1
Go to Settings>General. Select Keyboards. Scroll down to the bottom and locate the toggle labeled Predictive. Toggle this ON and OFF a couple of times, ending up with it ON (green.)
Now, reset your iDevice by holding the Sleep/Wake button and the Home button at the same time for 10 seconds, wait until you see the Apple Logo.
Check and see if iMessage is now predicting emojis as expected.
Predictive Emoji Fix #2
Go to Settings>General. Scroll down and select Reset. Tap Rest Keyboard Dictionary. Enter your passcode if requested and tap Reset Dictionary again.
Once Dictionary resets, return to Settings>General. And select Keyboards. Tap Edit and Delete the Emoji Keyboard.
Once deleted, select Add New Keyboard and select the Emoji Keyboard.
Now, reset your iDevice by holding the Sleep/Wake button and the Home button at the same time for 10 seconds, wait until you see the Apple Logo.
Check and see if iMessage is now predicting emojis as expected.
Predictive Emoji Fix #3
Check out our video tips for getting predictive emoji working.
iMessage Problems When Sending or Receiving Messages
After updating to iOS 10, you experience problems sending or receiving messages. Maybe your messages show as sent but are never delivered. Or your messages show as undelivered, but you get a response.
These problems occur in single and group messages.
So if you experience this issue, try the 9 Tips listed above. This includes restarting your phone, toggling the iMessage application on and off, and restoring the device to factory settings.
If these steps don’t solve your problem, try turning off Wi-Fi Assist.
See also: Messages (iMessage) not working, How to fix
Delayed Text Messages
When you use iMessage, you are not receiving messages until several hours after they were sent. Or, your recipients get your sent messages hours after you posted them.
You even receive a ‘delivered’ notice, but the message does not arrive immediately. This problem often occurs when your phone number is not checked on the FaceTime app.
Recipients Get the Same iMessage Twice
When sending an iMessage to your friends, it’s delivered two or three times unexpectedly. If you have this problem, try some of the fixes outlined above. This includes turning your iDevice on and off, restarting it, and resetting to factory settings.
If these steps still don’t solve the problem, try resetting your phone’s network features under Settings.
Turn iMessage off and then back on. If you continue to experience the same problem, contact Apple Support for additional solutions.
See also: How to send/receive iMessages in airplane mode
Waiting for Activation Error in iMessage
- Go to Settings > Messages and turn off iMessage
- Disable Facetime
- Sign out of your Apple ID
- Go to the Settings > iTunes & App Store > Tap Apple ID > Sign Out
- Turn on Airplane mode
- Wifi will be turned OFF automatically.
- Turn on Wifi
- Return to Settings>Messages and turn on iMessage
- Enter your Apple ID and password
- Go to Settings and turn OFF Airplane mode
- If you see a notification that says ‘Your carrier may charge for SMS’ – Tap OK
- If not, go to Messages, turn OFF iMessage and then turn it ON again.
- Give it a few minutes, and your iMessage should activate
iMessage Keeps on Crashing While Trying to Type
Some users have had this annoying problem. iMessage frequently crashes while trying to use it. One tip that has worked for many users is turn off Auto Cap, AutoCorrect, predictive and Check Spelling features.
This is more of a workaround, but it does work and mitigates the crashing problem.
“Service Denied” Text Message from “Unknown?”
Another one of iOS 10 iMessage problems is receiving a ‘Service Denied’ text message from ‘Unknown.’ If received, report the message to your carrier. The problem is likely your mobile carrier and not your Apple iDevice/iPhone.
Troubleshooting tips for ‘Service Denied’ text message
- Sync and Backup your phone with iTunes
- Restore it to its original factory setting
- Sync with iTunes to restore your apps, music, pictures, and other files
-
Remember when restoring your device to restore it as a “New Device.” Don’t restore from “backup” or you end up with the same problem.
And Always Remember to Clean Up!
Reader Tips
- I fixed iMessage by making sure the date and time were correct. After traveling in a different timezone, my date and time did not update automatically as it normally does when I return. So I manually adjusted the time and date by tapping on the correct time zone on the map. Once that was correct, then and only then did I recheck the automatic option
Summary
For most of her professional life, Amanda Elizabeth (Liz for short) trained all sorts of folks on how to use media as a tool to tell their own unique stories. She knows a thing or two about teaching others and creating how-to guides!
Her clients include Edutopia, Scribe Video Center, Third Path Institute, Bracket, The Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Big Picture Alliance.
Elizabeth received her Master of Fine Arts degree in media making from Temple University, where she also taught undergrads as an adjunct faculty member in their department of Film and Media Arts.
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After updating to 12.0, my kids imessages are sent to me in one thread. They each have their own Apple ID.
This has never been an issue until this latest update. I’ve tried everything I know to do and nothing is fixing this issue.
The keyboard covers up so that I cannot see what I’m typing and also cannot Access the send button.
I’ve had to restart my phone numerous times to fix this message issue. This is not a fix. Not happy at all with this update.
I used to be able to share a contact via iMessage and now the iMessage icon does not show up — only email. When someone sends a contact card to me via iMessage, if I click on this card I’m able to share from iMessage — so strange! Has anyone else had this problem?
This didn’t happen after an update, but randomly out of the blue, I stopped getting notifications for my messages. All of my chats are out of order. I’ll have a conversation from a month ago on top and one on the bottom, and I might have something from today in the middle. Also, I sometimes don’t receive messages at all that people send me, or I get them, but then they automatically delete themselves. I can send messages to people, and they receive my messages, but my phone always says that they are still sending, and the next time I open the app, the message has been deleted. I’m at a loss here. I’ve restarted my phone, restarted iMessage, reset my settings, etc. I don’t have a connection problem, and I don’t think it’s a storage problem. Everything else on my phone works perfectly.
Imessage stopped working on wifi, updated to newest ios, still would not work. Changed dns to 8.8.8.8 and now it works… yayyyy…. tyvm
My iMessage app crashes constantly and won’t sent SMS or iMessages, occasionally it’ll work enough to type a text and then try and send it but then it won’t send and says it did or says it won’t send and it send 3 times instead, it’s virtually useless and has been since the ios10 update nearly 6 months agar, I have to get all my SMS and iMessage forwarded to my iPad Pro, just so I can read and reply, it’s not convenient carrying around a 12.9″ iPad just so I can do a basic function like send an SMS, I’m fed up with apple, I paid $1500 for something that can’t even do what a $10 mobile can do by sending texts.
Iv tried every single one of the tips except doing a factory reset which I won’t do as I specifically bought a 128g iPhone 6s Plus so that it could hold back dated messaged and history, message history is very important for my job so I can refer back to them and lose these would make only an iPhone pointless. I may As well swap to android if I have to start from scratch, Apple needs to get its stuff together this isn’t good enough.
my laptop’s imessage used to use my iphone account to communicate with the outside world. Now it seems to have blocked all iphone connectivity for me to use that account to send out as well as for me to communicate to other iphones. I didn’t have trouble before my recent update to my iphone and perhaps the update to my laptop. (it autoupdates and I’m not sure when it did that.) I’m running 10.12.2 on my laptop and 10.3.1 on my iphone. I had to turn off the dual authentication feature but as far as I know that’s the only recent change in preferences I’ve made. Help appreciated!
Hi Terri,
It sounds like the updates may have turned off “Handoff” on your iPhone, MacBook, or both with the recent updates. So first check that handoff is ON.
1) Make sure you’re signed in to iCloud using the same Apple ID on your Mac and iPhone
2) Turn ON Bluetooth on all devices
3) On your Mac: Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click General, then look at the bottom of the window and check the box for “Allow Handoff between this Mac and your iCloud devices”
4) On iPhone, go to Settings > General > Handoff & Suggested Apps, and toggle ON Handoff
Hopefully, this is the problem. If not, let us know and we’ll look into it more.
Best of luck,
SK
My iMessage toggle to turn on won’t even turn on it sends the button to turn off in literally .01 seconds. i can activate FaceTime but my number just has a spinning wheel besides it. I want my iMessage to work any suggestions… by the way i already tried doing the reset process and airplane mode.
Hi Gio,
That sounds awful! So let’s try a couple of things
Go to Settings > General > Date & Time and make sure that you’ve set up your time zone correctly (best to “set automatically”)
Ask someone to send you both an SMS text and an iMessage text. Sometimes receiving messages fixes this problem
Check if you have any restrictions set-up, Settings > General > Restrictions > iMessage (check FaceTime too)
Go to Settings > General > Reset > Reset Network Settings (it sounds like you already did this but it doesn’t hurt to try again)
Try connecting to another WiFi network in a different location, then Enable iMessage and FaceTime
We also have a couple of articles with more suggestions Activation Issues with FaceTime & iMessage
Be Well,
Liz
Hi, my IMessage stopped working yesterday and when I try to turn it back on it just says “waiting for activation”. I have tried to put it on airplane mode and get it to reconnect but it only does the same thing. Do you have an suggestions on what to do? please and thanks
Hi Bryndal,
That’s a whole lots of trouble! Let’s try a few more things:
Go to Settings > Messages and turn off iMessage
Go to Settings > FaceTime and turn off FaceTime
Restart
Turn iMessage and FaceTime back on
If that doesn’t help, turn off Cellular Data in Settings > Cellular and connect to WiFi. Go to Settings > General > Reset > Reset Network Settings. Try to iMessage again.
For more tips, read this article on activation issues.
Be Well,
Liz
My messages are not working. I’ve reset my phone probably close to 20 times now just so much messages will come through. It works for about 20 mins, then iMessage turns off and goes to “text message”. But then my messages still won’t work – send or receive. I’m highly frustrated, upset, annoyed.
Hi Kait,
My goodness, that must feel awful! I’m sorry to hear about your problems with iMessage. A couple of ideas:
Update to the latest iOS. Settings > General > Software Update
1. Sign out of all apps that use your APPLE ID including iCloud & iTunes Store
2. Force restart your iPhone by holding down the power and the home buttons until the Apple logo appears (if iPhone 7, power and volume down buttons)
3. Go to Settings > General > Reset > Reset Network Settings
4. Now, sign back into all the Apple ID apps you previously signed out of
This process may take some time, so be patient. When all the apps are linked back to your Apple ID, check and see if iMessage is back in working order.
Another possible culprit could be your mobile plan. If you in a non-contract plan and have a low balance on your account, that could also cause these types of problems. The remedy is to increase your account balance.
Best of luck,
Liz
My text messages crash when I send
YEAH!!!!
Thank you.
Thanks a ton for this article. Finally!!!!!!!!!!!!! Found the problem/fix for #images under iMessage. Guys if any one of yours #images isn’t working, even if you are residing in so-called Apple’s list of nations (for availability of #images feature), i.e. United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, India, Singapore, Philippines, and Japan, then the problem might be with your DNS- Try changing the one from your ISP’s DNS to Google’s DNS (8.8.8.8) as mentioned above. Voila!
Wish I knew, barb. Makes mecwNt to throw my phone!
Is anyone’s back arrow after sending a text slow to respond? What’s the fix for that?
I need help, the handwritten message isn’t working, and I’m not talking about the one were you can change different colors,but I clicked a button by mistake when I was using it one time and now it’s not working,how to I set it back so I can do handwritten messages? I need help!
I also don’t have the “keep” option when sending and receiving digital touch messages. Any help would be appreciated.
Hi Fran,
This “fix” has worked for some folks. Go to setting> reset> reset settings (you will lose some of your iPhone personalized settings such as Touch ID , notifications and such. After the iPhone restarts try sending or receiving a digital touch message. Check if you are now able to see “keep” under the digital touch. If you really want to keep everything in Messages, check that Settings>Messages>Keep Messages under Message History is set to Forever (other choices are 30 days and 1 year). Just remember that with all the new bells and whistles of iOS 10, Messages now has the potential to take up a lot of your iPhone’s storage.
Thank you very much i take it another person with an i pad who has not upgraded to IOS 10.
will not receive the message or will he
Trial and error
i cannot find the send button on my i pad after i write messages, have just downloaded
IOS 10 CAN SOME ONE PLEASE HELP
Gordon, once you type in the message in the message box, tap on the uparrow in blue circle at the far right corner of the text box. That sends the message.
When sending a drawing I can see it animated and show how I drew it but when receiving one it just shows as a picture of what they drew and not animated. Anyone know why?
Remember when apple products used to just work?
How do I hide the words to choose from while writing a text ? You used to swipe down and it went away
Updated to ios10.0.2 and now none of the ios10 new iMessage features work.
They did work on iOS 10.0.1, but after updating on my 6s NOTHING!!!!!
I’ve tried everything and still the new message things haven’t appeared
I have an iphone 6S and my keyboards lags an unbelievable amount. Didn’t have this problem after downloading IOS 10.0.1 at first but now I’m having an issue. Tried nearly everything, I’ve probably restarted my phone 20 times and uninstalled keyboards and reinstalled as well as deleting all my imessages. I’m having the same issue in notes, and facebook messrnger. I’ve turned off all predictive texting and it still lags. This basically renders my phone useless.
Okay so I was also having trouble with activating this message thing and none of these solutions worked. I found out it was actually based on the amount of pressure I placed on the arrow itself. You can also lighten that touch with 3D Touch. It takes a little getting used to since a very light touch is all we need to type on the keyboard. But for the arrow itself to do the bubbles just hold and apply more pressure. It should pop up. Hope this helps!
I do not have to ‘keep’ option come up under iMessage digital touch pictures. HELP! I have restarted my device and still nothing.