Apple recently has been under fire for a bug that is preventing users
from receiving text messages when they switch from an iPhone to an
Android or Windows Phone device and keep the same phone number. The
problem has actually been around since iMessage first debuted in late 2011. Apple said in a statement
this morning that it recently "fixed a server-side iMessage bug which
was causing an issue for some users." The company also revealed that it
has plans for an "additional bug fix in a future software update." There's no need to wait for Apple to issue a patch. Here's how you can fix the problem right now:
Method 1: Disable iMessage
The easiest way to fix the problem is to disable iMessage on your iPhone before making the switch to another mobile platform. To disable iMessage,
open the Settings app, scroll down to Messages, and toggle the iMessage
switch from 'on' to 'off.' Afterward, I suggest sending a normal text
message to one of your friends to ensure that iMessage was switched off
properly. Screenshot by PH-MobileTricksThere
have been conflicting reports regarding how long it will take for
Apple's servers to acknowledge that iMessage has been disabled. I am
constantly switching between platforms and devices, and I had no issues
when I made the jump from an iPhone to an Android device. Others, however, have claimed that it could take up to 45 days for Apple's servers to reorganize the switch.
Method 2: Reset your Apple ID password
What
if you have already sold or traded in your old iPhone for another
device? If you are unable to perform the first method or if it was
unsuccessful for you, Jack Wallen over at TechRepublic suggests you try resetting your Apple ID password.
Screenshot by PH-MobileTricks To do this, go to Apple's website
and click on the "reset your password" link. Now this is the important
part: don't log back into your account once the password has been reset.
Instead, send a text message with the word "STOP" to 48369 from your
new Android or Windows Phone device. You will then receive a text
message from Apple that says you have successfully unsubscribed from
your iCloud account. Wallen notes that the change "won't happen
immediately." In his experience texts from iPhone users slowly began to
trickle in on his Android device "over a 12-hour period." Even though
others have found success using this method, Apple has said that performing it won't deregister your number from iMessage.
Method 3: Call AppleCare
If
you have tried one or both of the above methods and still aren't
receiving text messages, don't panic -- there is still hope. The last
thing I suggest you do is try calling 1-800-MY-APPLE and having a
technician manually deregister your phone number from Apple's servers.
Tags: Apple Bug, Mobile Phones, Apple Problem Solution
I've been mostly satisfied with Virgin Mobile service on my iPhone 5S, especially the $30-per-month price tag for nearly unlimited everything. But there's one feature I've missed: mobile hotspot. Thankfully,
the carrier now offers that capability, as $5 buys you a day's worth of
using your handset as a Wi-Fi hotspot for up to five devices. (And your
first time is effectively free, as Virgin is offering a $5 account
credit between now and July 16.) However, for iPhone owners in
particular, it's not immediately clear how to enable the feature. Indeed, if you venture into Settings, you'll notice a complete absence of the Personal Hotspot option. Here's how to access it:
Screenshot by PH-MobileTricks
Step 1: Sign into your Virgin Mobile account. This can be done in a desktop browser or in Safari
on your iPhone. (Turns out there's already a bookmark in there called
My Account.) Tap it, then sign in using your Virgin account number and
PIN. For purposes of this tutorial, let's keep the focus on that
phone-based option, as I think it's the most expedient method.
Screenshot by PH-MobileTricksStep 2: Once you're signed in, tap Settings & Preferences. Then scroll down to Manage Mobile Hotspot and tap it.
Screenshot by PH-MobileTricks
Step 3:
There's only one option here, and it's $5/250MB Daily Mobile Hotspot.
(That may not seem like a lot of data, but consider that the average
user typically consumes less than 1GB in an entire month. What's more,
that 250MB isn't counted against your 2.5GB monthly allotment of
high-speed data.) Tap to select that option, and then tap Update.
Screenshot by PH-MobileTricksStep 4:
You'll see a confirmation screen noting your start date ("Now") and end
date. Tap Next to complete the purchase. The following screen instructs
you to "Go to Settings/System > System Update > Update Phone,"
but iOS has no such option. Instead, Virgin should automatically push an
update to your phone. (See below if you run into trouble.)
Screenshot by PH-MobileTricks
Step 5:
Tap Settings > Cellular and you should see a Personal Hotspot
option. Tap it, then toggle it to on. You can also tap Wi-Fi Password if
you want to modify the random one created by the service. Now other
devices in the immediate vicinity should be able to connect to your
iPhone.
Screenshot by PH MobileTricks
If
you don't see the Personal Hotspot option in the Cellular menu, you may
need to manually update your iPhone's carrier settings. (I did.) To do
so, open the phone dialer, then enter ##873283# and then tap Call. Incidentally, those numbers spell out UPDATE. You
should also note that after your hotspot period has ended, the Personal
Hotspot option will disappear from the Cellular menu. To activate it
again, you'll pretty much need to repeat the entire process (sign into
your account, buy the add-on, and so forth). It's a hassle, but at least
the mobile hotspot function is now available. Update:Want
to get a little more bang for your buck? Plan ahead. When you activate
the hotspot feature, it remains live until the end of the following day.
So, for example, if you fire it up at 9 a.m. on Monday, you've actually
got until midnight on Tuesday -- effectively giving you two days for
the price of one.
Below are the recommendations in response to the query on how to resolve a hangup or crashed iPhone smartphone.
Hard Reboot
From the iPhone 3 line on, Apple has included a simple feature to manually reboot their smart phones without relying on iOS. Considering this is exactly the sort of situation, when a glitch or
crash has rendered your device unresponsive, that you would need such a
feature, it was a smart addition on Apple’s part. To activate a hard reboot on you iPhone, just follow the directions below:
Press the Sleep/Wake button and the Home buttons at the same time.
Hold them down until the device responds, usually between
5-10 seconds, and the screen goes black. (You may need to continue to
press even after the red Power-Off slider appears.)
When the silver Apple logo appears, you can release the buttons.
The iPhone should begin rebooting as normal.
In nearly every instance of prolonged unresponsiveness, the
hard reboot method should resolve the issue. Even better, you shouldn’t
lose any of the data on your phone, though depending on what you were
doing when the crash occurred, some apps may not have auto-saved your
input.
Use Recovery Mode for Persistent Problems
Hard reboots are all well and good for resolving one-time
crashes, but if your iPhone freezes on a regular basis, or the problem
gets worse (such as restart loops, interrupted updates/backup restores,
and when your device won’t register in iTunes), the next step is to
activate Recovery Mode.
NOTE: While this process only mentions iPhones, it’s
worth noting that this mode is available on all Apple products, such as
iPads, iPods, etc.
WARNING: Using Recovery Mode will delete all data on your iPhone!
Connect data cable to computer, but not to iPhone just yet.
Turn off iPhone, using hard reboot if necessary.
Hold down the Home button while inserting data cable into iPhone.
When iPhone powers up, the Apple logo will display, keep holding Home button until you see the iTunes/USB cable screen.
iPhone is now in Recovery Mode.
You can now use restore your iPhone to either Restore from Backup or Factory Default State.
Restore from Backup
One of the reasons why it’s important to keep your phone
synced with iTunes on a regular basis is that each time you do, your
phone’s data is backed up on the computer.
This comes in handy when a persistent problem has left your
phone inaccessible, and you need to reset your iPhone from scratch,
without losing your settings.
To restore your iPhone data from Backup, use the following steps:
Connect your iPhone cable to an open USB port on the computer your backup is stored on.
On the iPhone Management screen, find and click the Restore button.
Follow the directions provided, and ‘Agree’ to the iPhone Software License, click ‘Continue’.
Enter your iTunes Account information.
Register your iPhone with iTunes.
On the Setup Your iPhone screen, select the second option, Restore from the backup of [Your iPhone].
The restore process will begin, and typically doesn’t take very long.
Afterward, confirm that your iPhone and iTunes settings are
correct. (You may lose some data if your device hasn’t been synced
recently.
Some settings may need to be input again, such as music and
email syncing. Though the basic settings restore is short, syncing
large music libraries and the like may be a much lengthier process.
Reset to Factory Default
If the persistent crashing problem on your iPhone is due to
a problem related to a system update, app, or the like, and a Backup
restore would not remove the offending code, you may need to resort to
the nuclear option: Wiping out your iPhone completely.
To reset your phone to its default, original settings, follow the first five steps from the Restore from Backup tutorial above.
At Step 6, select the Setup as new iPhone option, then click Continue.
Your iPhone is now reset to the blank slate it was in when
you first received it, and while all of your settings and data are lost,
you should at least be able to use the device while the issue is sorted
out by the eggheads at Apple.
Sending diagnostic reports to Apple is a good way to facilitate this process.
Last Resort
In the event that none of these steps fixes the problem of
crashing and/or freezing on your iPhone, it’s time to take your device
in for repairs, or maybe even getting a replacement phone.
Whether you are a new user or a seasoned user of Apple’s iPhone, you're most likely not making use of your smartphone to the absolute maximum. With these simple tips and tricks, you won’t learn everything about your iPhone, but you will definitely become a more proficient user.
You can take a screenshot. From saving content you view on your mobile browser to taking quick snaps of funny texts, taking a screenshot can be incredibly useful in a lot of ways. Taking a quick snap of whatever is on your iPhone’s display is super quick and easy; simply press the home key at the bottom of your phone at the same time as the button at the top of the device. Your screenshot will be saved to your camera roll.
Have Fun With Siri If you add the address for people in your contact list and then ask Siri to take you to them, she will give you directions to their house. Telling Siri about your relations will cause her to ask to remember them. If you agree, she will remember. Then, whenever you ask her to name your relation, she will. e.g. Telling Siri that Rebecca is my sister will make her tell that Rebecca is your sister whenever you ask the question, "Who is my sister?"
Instant Scrolling If you have scrolled down a really long web page, then just tap the bar on the top of your screen to immediately be taken to the top of it.
Automatic Backup To automatically backup your iPhone on iCloud, go to Settings > iCloud > Storage & Backup and turn on iCloud Backup. This will automatically backup your phone's critical data without the need to synchronize it again and again.
Caps Lock To type in capital letters, just enable Caps Lock on your phone by double tapping the Shift arrow.
Extend Battery Life If you feel that your iPhone's battery performance is below par, you can increase it by disabling 3G, Bluetooth and push notifications. Just go to Settings> General> Network to do this.
Use the Home Button Pressing the Home button once will take you to your Main Screen. Pressing it twice will take you to Spotlight Search which you can use to search everything on your phone.
Control what appears in Spotlight search To control what appears in Spotlight search, go to Settings> General> Spotlight Search and select according to your needs.
Block Inappropriate Content To do so, go to Settings> General> Restrictions and tap Enable Restrictions. This will allow you to add a pass code and select which apps you want to make accessible.
Download Apps and Music on all your iProducts If you have many Apple devices and don't want to download the same apps or music on them again and again, you can enable automatic downloads for apps, music and iBooks by going to Settings> Store.
Send Read Receipts in iMessage You can let others know when you have read their text messages by enabling "Send Receipts" from Settings> Messages.
Close Programs Running in the Background Just double tap the Home Button, then hold your finger down on the app you would like to close. Then, once it starts shaking, tap the red minus icon to close. This will be of huge help if you find that your phone is running slowly.
You can be a master of autocorrect. If you are typing a note or an e-mail, you may have had some issues with the iPhone’s autocorrect or autocomplete features. Sometimes the results from this feature are helpful and right on, but other times they are anything but helpful. If you pay attention when you type, you don’t have to be at the mercy of your iPhone. A little textbox will pop up and recommend a spelling or a completed word; to accept it press the space key. If you don’t want to accept the word, tap the tiny “x” that appears next to it. This can help you avoid some faux pas when texting.
Create your own dictionary. Speaking of autocorrect and autocomplete, you can create your own dictionary. When you enter a custom dictionary, your phone will autocorrect and autocomplete the things you type by inserting words you actually use. To do this, go to “Settings” and then “General.” In this menu, scroll down to the shortcuts area and tap “Add New Shortcut.” Not only will this let you enter in custom dictionary words, but you can also enter in shortcuts so that your abbreviations will end up inputting complete words in texts and emails.
Have custom ring tones for less money. Your iPhone comes with many ringtones and message tones, but these are the same sounds that millions of other iPhone users are utilizing. If you want something unique, you may be tempted to shell out big bucks for custom ring tones. If you like to assign special ringtones to certain people or groups, this may cost you a lot. So, in order to get ringtones without breaking the bank (and taking away your app budget), you should look at applications that allow you to make ringtones out of songs you already have on your phone. Some of these cost money and should only be bought if you want to create a lot of ringtones. If you are only looking to turn out a couple of tones, you can even get a free version of these popular apps.
Block your number from other people’s caller ID. Blocking your number can be helpful for any number of reasons. Maybe you don’t want an ex that you need to call to have your new number, or possibly you are using your personal number for business, but you don’t want professional contacts to have your personal digits. You can block your number easily from the “Settings” menu. There, you should go to the “phone” area and select the “Show My Caller ID” option; there you need to slide over to “no.” To switch it back on, follow the same steps and slide over to “yes.”
Multitask like nobodies’ business. One of the reasons many preferred Android to the iPhone was because it offered better multitasking. As the iOS developed, multitasking has improved. When you need to quickly switch from one app to another, you simply have to press the home button to leave an app. Then double click the home key again to reveal your most recently used apps at the bottom of the screen. A quick swipe of the finger will allow you to flick through all recently used applications, allowing you to quickly hop from one application to another; thus making you more productive.
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