Judge Dismisses Android-Switching iMessage Lawsuit Against Apple

imessage_ios72U.S. District Judge Lucy H. Koh has dismissed [PDF] a lawsuit against Apple over a long-standing issue that prevented some former iPhone owners who switched to Android smartphones from receiving text messages from other iOS users, as reported by Business Insider.

Koh originally ruled against granting the lawsuit class-action status, because it was not clear enough that all Android smartphone switchers were actually affected by the issue, but a trio of plaintiffs Adam Backhaut, Bouakhay Joy Backhaut and Kenneth Morris persisted with their case.

The three alleged that they switched from iPhones to Android phones in 2012. After that, texts sent to them from other iPhone users were not delivered. They were probably stuck in Apple's iMessage system, which was notoriously unreliable at delivering texts to Android phones until late 2014, when Apple introduced a fix for the bug. That constitutes a violation of the Federal Wire Tap Act, the three claim. Apple denied the allegations.

Apple launched a web tool in November 2014 for users to deregister their phone number from iMessage in the event they switched to a non-Apple device, and Koh ruled that Apple would face a federal lawsuit over the issue just two days later. As of Koh's ruling on Tuesday, however, all lawsuits against Apple related to the matter have come to a close with no punitive damages against the company.

Popular Stories

cook trump

Trump Responds to Apple Keeping Diversity Policies

Wednesday February 26, 2025 6:32 am PST by
In an all-caps post on Truth Social today, U.S. President Donald Trump said Apple should fully end its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies. Tim Cook meeting with President Trump in 2017 "APPLE SHOULD GET RID OF DEI RULES, NOT JUST MAKE ADJUSTMENTS TO THEM," he wrote. Trump's post comes one day after Apple held its annual shareholders meeting, during which a majority of...
iOS 18

Apple Says iOS 18.4 Will Be Released in April With These New Features

Wednesday February 26, 2025 7:15 am PST by
In a recent press release, Apple confirmed that iOS 18.4 will be released in April. From the Apple News+ Food announcement:Coming with iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 in April, Apple News+ subscribers will have access to Apple News+ Food, a new section that will feature tens of thousands of recipes — as well as stories about restaurants, healthy eating, kitchen essentials, and more — from the...
apple watch ultra snow

6 Features Coming to the Apple Watch Ultra 3

Tuesday February 25, 2025 9:00 am PST by
The Apple Watch Ultra 3 is expected to launch later this year, arriving two years after the previous model with a series of improvements. While no noticeable design changes are expected for the third generation since the company tends to stick with the same Apple Watch design through three generations before changing it, there are a series of internal upgrades on the way. By the time the ...
iPhone Fold Vertical Feature

Apple's 2026 Foldable iPhone Has No Visible Display Crease – Report

Tuesday February 25, 2025 2:58 am PST by
Apple is making significant headway on its long-rumored foldable iPhone, with a new report suggesting the company has achieved a major breakthrough by effectively eliminating the screen crease that plagues current foldable devices. According to Korean publication ETNews, Apple is finalizing its component suppliers for the foldable iPhone, with the selection process expected to be completed...
trump iphone dictation issue

Apple Fixing 'Trump' Dictation Processing Bug

Tuesday February 25, 2025 1:18 pm PST by
Multiple iPhone owners today noticed a pronunciation processing issue that causes the word "Trump" to momentarily show up when using dictation to send a message with the word "racist." In some cases, when speaking the word racist through the iPhone's built-in dictation feature, the iPhone briefly interprets the spoken word as "Trump" and "Trump" text shows up in the Messages app before being ...
airpods pro purple

Here's When AirPods Pro 3 Are Rumored to Launch

Monday February 24, 2025 9:14 am PST by
According to a post on X today from a leaker known as Kosutami, Apple plans to launch AirPods Pro 3 in May or June this year. The leaker also claimed that an AirTag 2 will launch around the same time. Kosutami is best known as a collector of prototype Apple hardware, but they have occasionally shared accurate information about Apple's future product plans. For example, they accurately...
airtag orange

AirTag 2 Rumored to Launch in May or June With These New Features

Monday February 24, 2025 6:11 am PST by
Apple plans to launch a second-generation AirTag in May or June this year, according to a post today from a leaker known as Kosutami. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman previously reported that a new AirTag would be released in mid-2025. May or June would align with that timeframe. Below, we recap three new features rumored for the AirTag 2: With a second-generation Ultra Wideband chip, the...
ios 18 4 carplay

iOS 18.4 Includes a Small But Useful Change for CarPlay

Sunday February 23, 2025 2:23 pm PST by
The first beta of iOS 18.4 is now available, and it includes a small but useful change for CarPlay. As we noted in our list of iOS 18.4 features, CarPlay now shows a third row of icons, up from two rows previously. However, this change is only visible in vehicles with a larger center display. For example, a MacRumors Forums member noticed the change in a Toyota Tundra, which can be equipped...

Top Rated Comments

friedmud Avatar
120 months ago

I won't buy a new Apple device until they fix this.
Ironically, buying an Apple device would completely fix your problem....
Score: 34 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Tycho24 Avatar
120 months ago
... Really?

Our court system makes no sense. It rules that Apple has a monopoly on ebooks (a claim that would make sense if you were talking about Amazon, and by extension, none if you talk about any other company), but that it's totally cool for Apple to hold phone numbers hostage.
Don't be such a silly goose!
Why not try to educate yourself?

Lol, @ "hold phone numbers hostage". *smh*
Sheesh, dramatic hyperbole much??
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Orlandoech Avatar
120 months ago
Sounds like Apple has a judge in their back pockets.

Waiting for the Apple apologist to back Apple and freak out over my post.

PS
I own lots of Apple products and dislike Android but this was a huge issue
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ArtOfWarfare Avatar
120 months ago
... Really?

Our court system makes no sense. It rules that Apple has a monopoly on ebooks (a claim that would make sense if you were talking about Amazon, and by extension, none if you talk about any other company), but that it's totally cool for Apple to hold phone numbers hostage.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Chatter Avatar
120 months ago
Sounds like Apple has a judge in their back pockets.

Waiting for the Apple apologist to back Apple and freak out over my post.

PS
I own lots of Apple products and dislike Android but this was a huge issue
Its just childish to say "Sounds like Apple has a judge in their back pockets".
Oh well...enjoy the holidays.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AbSoluTc Avatar
120 months ago
Just takes a search of MR or any search engine, to realise this was a quite big issue. So how come the judge saw it as a non issue ? Seems weird to me based on the data available.
Because of the following..


Apple […] discovered that two of the three plaintiffs in the case had gotten rid of their old iPhones after they filed the suit against Apple. They are thus unable to demonstrate whether texts sent to their phone numbers went to their Apple or Android devices, Apple claimed. One of the plaintiffs also previously asked that she be dismissed as a “named plaintiff” in the case.

The three plaintiffs were a husband, wife and family friend. Judge Lucy Koh dismissed the case in a single-paragraph order.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)