Evan Selleck
For some iPhone owners out there, a strange bug is potentially wreaking havoc on folks trying to text Android users.
There are some iPhone users taking to social media to confirm that their device is running into a particularly strange bug. When they are trying to text an Android user, the iPhone is adding a "+" symbol to the beginning of phone numbers.
The problem isn't just related to texting Android users, but also people using Google Voice numbers. The bug appears to be only impacting iPhone owners in the United States.
Adding the "+" character forces the iPhone to recognize the number as an international one, even when it isn't. A normal U.S.-based number is automatically switched to an overseas one, causing delivery issues on both ends.
There are several threads on Reddit right now, with many iPhone owners pointing out their devices are running into the same issues. As of right now, there does not appear to be a reason for the bug.
It appears the bug is tied to the iPhone, with no specific callouts to people sending texts from the Mac. But with Macs relying on text message forwarding, it would seem reasonable that the issue would impact these users, too.
Apple's update to iOS 16.5 earlier today does not seem to be the root issue, as many iPhone owners are pointing out the issue cropped up for them before the updates were released.
As far as fixes are concerned, some users have suggested that sending a text to yourself may patch the issue. Some users have suggested the fix is already present server-side, while others say to simply change the formatting of the number to add "+1" to the front.
Charles Martin
Malcolm Owen
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
Wesley Hilliard
Andrew Orr
21 Comments
This came out of nowhere and seems to affect standard SMS and Google Voice messages sent from iPhones only, and did not appear with the previous update to iOS nor the new one … this trail leads back to Google and some tinkering with translation for their buggy and not-fully-adopted RCS, I’ll wager …
Just don't text Android users...problem solved!
So it’s just a plus being added? If I were texting 602 555 1223 it would be +60 2 555 1212? (Which would try to send to Malaysia number 2 555 12 12 if it existed. It’s not that it’s adding a plus to 1 602 555 1212, right? The second one should not be a problem.
That’s exactly what was going on with my Device earlier this afternoon! I was like are you getting my messages lol and come to find out it was a Pesky BUG!🙄