Pesky iMessage delay bug persists for some in Apple's macOS High Sierra
A bug affecting a number of macOS High Sierra users can result in significant delays for receipt of iMessages and text messages, as well as a lack of notifications from an iPhone or Apple Watch for the same messages. At the moment, the only fixes appear to be disabling messages, or rolling back to macOS Sierra.
A number of users have detailed the issue in a growing thread on Apple's support forums. In addition, one AppleInsider staff member also continues to have problems with the bug.
After updating to High Sierra, some users found that iMessages are significantly delayed in arriving on a Mac. In addition, while the Mac is active, notifications are silenced on other iCloud-connected devices like iPhones and Apple Watches.
The result means users may not receive texts and iMessages for hours after they are actually delivered.
Users posting in Apple's forums found that certain actions can temporarily fix the problem, including disabling and re-enabling messages, or sending a message via the Mac. But the problems appear to return in time.
The only persistent fix users found was either disabling the receipt of messages on a Mac entirely, or rolling back the macOS install to the previous-generation version, Sierra.
In the interim, a community bug report for the problem has been created. But recent beta updates to macOS High Sierra do not appear to address the issues.
It has been speculated that the bug could be related to changes in High Sierra that will pave the way for iCloud syncing of messages. Messages in iCloud were featured in earlier betas of High Sierra and iOS 11, but the feature was removed at launch and is scheduled to debut in an update later this fall.
Messages in iCloud will seamlessly synchronize a user's messages between devices. For example, deleting a message from one device would strike it from all other iCloud-connected devices.
A number of users have detailed the issue in a growing thread on Apple's support forums. In addition, one AppleInsider staff member also continues to have problems with the bug.
After updating to High Sierra, some users found that iMessages are significantly delayed in arriving on a Mac. In addition, while the Mac is active, notifications are silenced on other iCloud-connected devices like iPhones and Apple Watches.
The result means users may not receive texts and iMessages for hours after they are actually delivered.
Users posting in Apple's forums found that certain actions can temporarily fix the problem, including disabling and re-enabling messages, or sending a message via the Mac. But the problems appear to return in time.
The only persistent fix users found was either disabling the receipt of messages on a Mac entirely, or rolling back the macOS install to the previous-generation version, Sierra.
In the interim, a community bug report for the problem has been created. But recent beta updates to macOS High Sierra do not appear to address the issues.
It has been speculated that the bug could be related to changes in High Sierra that will pave the way for iCloud syncing of messages. Messages in iCloud were featured in earlier betas of High Sierra and iOS 11, but the feature was removed at launch and is scheduled to debut in an update later this fall.
Messages in iCloud will seamlessly synchronize a user's messages between devices. For example, deleting a message from one device would strike it from all other iCloud-connected devices.
Comments
As always, YMMV
Man, if they would stop adding new crap to these applications and maybe fix the problems the applications have had since forever these things would stop getting worse and worse.
I really wish I could find the QA people responsible for this horrific testing and hit them on the side of the head with a board.
I’m a software developer. There has never been a time when releases exclusively fixed bugs or introduced bugs. Apple/google/MS could spend 100 years working on eliminating all bugs and there’d still be bugs. Meanwhile you’d be complaining about how stale the platform has become.
Until humans are perfect, software bugs will exist. welcome to real life.
I do like the idea of just doing a clean install - because I haven't done that for like 3 or 4 years on this Mac. I'm not surprised that the problem would go away if you did that - as I'm sure their QA people are just using clean install images to do their testing.
I get my messages on my iPad or phone and respond their. I only use my iMac for music, random surfing, and video editing. So for me - not a big deal. If it was your only machine - then I can understand why some people are constipated.