iOS Messages questions

TidBITS Talk
1

My wife just upgraded to a new iPhone. She tried twice to transfer from old iPhone 8 to iPhone 12 but it didn’t take so used the iCloud backup transfer.

In making this migration to the new iPhone, one of her Messages threads got munged so that posts to/from her new iPhone were not visible on that lengthy thread.

Not knowing what it would do :wink: LOL I changed the Messages settings to use just her cell number for send and receive and now all seems to be working.

So a couple of beginner questions:

  1. Any obvious reasons why she momentarily was kicked off that thread?

  2. Any advice about whether to use more than one’s cell number in the “Send & Receive” settings for iMessages?

  3. Is there a way to mark messages as unread?

Thank you.

2

Things can get a little funky when a person has multiple ways of receiving iMessages (cell number and multiple email addresses). It’s probably best to reduce that number as much as possible to avoid confusion. I’d start with just the cell number and only add an email address in if people are asking about it as a way to contact you. Not having it there also prevents people who you only email with from texting you. :slight_smile:

One thing you don’t note is if she’s using Messages in iCloud, which theoretically will make things more coherent across multiple devices and in migrations.

I don’t believe there’s any way to mark a message as unread. Sometimes I look only at the notification and don’t open Messages if I know I want to keep that badge there as a reminder.

3

Thanks for that idea, Adam. I’m usually on the lookout for ways to simplify my life, and I should have thought of that.

4

Adam, thanks very much. Very helpful.

I’ll double check on the location of Messages on her iPhone. And then on mine too. :wink: LOL

I assume if Messages is selected in iCloud then she is using iCloud for all messaging. She does have iCloud/Messages set to On.

Thanks again

5

It’s worth checking the setting on all devices, just in case. If it’s on anywhere, you probably want it to be on everywhere.