iPhone users in the United States are experiencing an unusual issue. A bug is showing an extra “+” character in texts received from Android and Google Voice numbers.
Recently, Apple released iOS 16.5 with new Pride Celebration wallpaper for iOS, an improved Sports section in the Apple News app, and bug fixes for Spotlight, Podcasts in CarPlay, and other issues. However, it is unclear if the number issue is caused by the latest iOS 16.5 or not.
Try these fixes to resolve the iOS issue breaking chat threads between iPhone and Android users
According to complaints on Reddit, texts received from Android and Google Voice numbers show “+” in front of the number instead of the area code. The character is used in place of “00” for international numbers. Redditor @AggravatingString763 shared an image of the buggy contact information in texts.
The addition of “+” makes the iPhone believe that text is coming from an international number and breaks the chat threads.
For now, it can not be determined what is causing the issue, whether it is a server side issue or an iOS bug. Luckily, Reddit community has suggested three fixes to resolve the issue.
- Hard restart by pressing
- Send yourself a text
- Reset network settings
@teqogan suggested, “Do a hard restart. Press and release up the volume, then down the volume. Then press and hold the button on the right until you see the Apple logo appear the second time.”
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