Hi all,
- Carrier: T-Mobile USA (Ver. 20.6.7)
- Phone: iPhone 5 Unlocked (A1428)
Model: NE486LL/A
- iOS Ver.: iOS 9 Beta 4 (13A4305g)
- Modem Fimware: 9.00.04
TL;DR: Phone/iMessage/FaceTime are referencing a random 14-digit number after replacing an old SIM with a new one. Only affects iMessage/FaceTime. Can receive regular texts and regular phone calls.
I want to preface this by saying that I fully understand iOS is pre-release beta software and all features are not expected to work flawlessly. I am posting this here to start a discussion of possible reasons for this to happen. I will be submitting a proper bug report after posting this discussion.
I was running iOS 9 Beta 3 with no issues (at least related to this discussion). I upgraded to Beta 4 on Friday and everything was fine. I had previously ordered a new replacement SIM since my old one was beginning to fail and that came in a couple hours after upgrading to Beta 4.
I went on T-Mo's website (https://t-mobile.com/sim) and activated the new SIM related to my number on the account– all is well. The new SIM was working immediately, as I receive a phone call a bit after doing the swap.
Now, it wasn't until I begin receiving messages from people I was texting (via iMessage) along the lines of "who is this" or "do I know you?" This is when I discovered that the phone was referencing my phone number as a very long, random number (not my phone number)– +1 26419117983205 (I replaced some of the numbers here for privacy reasons).
This numbers shows in the following places:
- Settings > Phone > My Number
- Settings > iMessage > Send & Receive (listed in both "You can be each by iMessage at" & "Start New Conversations From")
- Settings > FaceTime (Same places as above)
I can:
- Make / receive phone numbers like normal by dialing my correct phone number
- Receive normal, non-iMessage texts to my correct phone number
- Receive iMessage/FaceTime calls to the long number
I cannot:
Receive phone calls when dialing the random number
I've tried:
- Speaking to T-Mobile support (the girl couldn't figure out what was wrong and escalated it to their networking team and said it could take up to three days to hear back from them)
- Editing my phone number under Settings > Phone
Phone number reverts back after some time or after a reboot
- Deactivating both iMessage/FaceTime, Resetting Network Settings & then rebooting the phone
- Exchanging the new SIM at my local T-Mobile store– same issue exists, only with a different long phone number
What has worked:
Doing a full restore back to iOS 8.4
- Everything activated correctly and referenced my correct phone number
Like I previously mentioned, everything was working correctly on my old SIM on iOS 9 Beta 3. I'm open to suggestions, but I believe the issue lies somewhere in Apple's activation servers and not T-Mobile and the new SIM.
My random guess for what's causing the issue: It could be related to iOS 9 & T-Mobile's support for the extended Continuity services that allow it to be used over cellular data (http://www.engadget.com/2015/06/10/ios-9-continuity-over-cellular-t-mobile/). Perhaps the new services reference a new unique number to all of the devices connected to an Apple ID to allow the cellular use of Continuity.
Happy discussing!
- Daniel