iMessage uses wrong Caller ID even though right one selected iPhone

This is a fairly well-known bug since iOS 5 was released. Thankfully, there's a workaround. I'm going to post this so others who are looking for it may find it.

 

Problem: Wrong Caller ID is being sent out with outgoing iMessage messages from iPhone and iPad (iOS 5.1.1). This problem is easily reproduceable either on iPad or iPhone running iOS 5.1.1. It has been present since iOS 5.0 release.

 

Behavior: If the user is sending out a message from iMessage to another device or phone # using the iMessage protocol (not SMS), the Caller ID e-mail address can sometimes be wrong despite the correct Caller ID address selected in iOS Settings > Messages.

 

Steps to Reproduce:

 

Close the Messages app on the iOS device. Open the multitask window (double-tap Home button), close out the Messages app there as well.Open Settings > Messages; Sign Out the Apple ID you are using, then turn off Messages.Turn Messages back on, sign in to iMessage with your Apple ID. (ie. “johndoe@domain.com).Once signed in with your Apple ID, go into “Receive At” section, add in additional address or two. (ie. janedoe@domain.com, johndoe1@domain.comClick Home, open Messages, send a test message to another iOS device nearby available for testing.Once the message comes in on the other iOS device, open it on that 2nd device, and notice the Caller ID it is being sent from (iPhone its called “Contact,” iPad it’s the top-right little button that represents the Contact name/address).Important: You will notice the Caller ID that the message was sent from was the last address added to iMessage (ie. johndoe1@domain.com) despite never having changed it.Go back to the initial iOS device, open Settings > Messages > Receive At… > Caller ID.Bug: You’ll see that the Caller ID is still on the initial Apple ID (johndoe@domain.com) yet was received on the test device as the last-most address in the Caller ID list.

 

 

Workaround / Fix:

 

 

The is only one possible workaround for this is after the user adds any extra e-mail Caller ID addresses to iMessage. (ie. johndoe@domain.com, janedoe@domain.com, johndoe1@domain.com, etc.)After adding e-mail addresses to the “Receive At…” list, open “Caller ID”The top-most address should already be checked; johndoe@domain.comSelect an alternate Caller ID (johndoe1@domain.com), a check will be placed next to it.Select the original Caller ID (johndoe@domain.com), the check will return to the place it was in.Send a test iMessage to another iOS device for testing, the Caller ID should match exactly what is selected in Caller ID instead of the bottom-most address as before.

 

I strongly suggest that anyone affected by this send Feedback directly to Apple, letting them know that you are affected by it. My guess is they already know about it but are trying to find a way to fix it from the outset but numbers also help.

 

http://www.apple.com/feedback/

 

John