From PC World: Apple is at last offering a simple way for former iPhone users to receive text messages sent into limbo by the company’s iMessage service.
The problem affects former iPhone users who transferred their SIM card or phone number to a non-Apple phone. If they had set up their iPhone to route text messages to other iPhone owners via iMessage rather than their carrier’s SMS (Short Message Service) servers, they were often unable to receive text messages from those people after ditching their own iPhone.
Affected messages continued to be routed through Apple’s proprietary iMessage service, which sends them direct to the specific device Apple has linked with the phone number, rather than the one the carrier currently associates with the number. Because iMessage only works with iOS devices, those messages would not arrive on non-Apple phones.
To solve the problem, Apple previously advised deregistering the affected phone number from its iMessage service—but provided no self-service method for former iPhone users to do so. In order to unlink the phone number, users were required to put their SIM back into their old iPhone and manually switch off the service in the phone’s settings. Users who no longer had access to their old iPhone were told to call Apple support.
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