Yesterday, Apple’s popular messaging service, iMessage, went down for a number of users. We got a number of emails asking how they can fix the issue. Here are 5 things you should do during an iMessage outage and here are 5 things you shouldn’t do.
DO: Relax. Don’t get too annoyed when you see that your phone is forcing you to send iMessage. Yes, its a bit of a hassle, but iMessage outages don’t usually last too long.
DON’T: Panic. A lot of people start freaking out when iMessage goes down. There are a number of users who go on Twitter and tweet about how worried they are that iMessage goes down. Don’t let you be one of them.
DO: Check Apple’s Status Page. It’s where Apple shows all of their major services, and whether they’re working or not. It’ might take a little while for Apple to verify an outage and post it on the site, but check the Status page is the first thing you should do when iMessage isn’t working for you.
DON’T: Call Apple. Not only is it a waste of time (you can just check the Status page which is basically the same thing), but it’ll be a waste of your minutes too. Yes, your first instinct may be to call Apple, but honestly by the time you get connected to someone, iMessage will probably be fixed.
DO: Use Other Services. Even with iMessage down, you can still text your friends for free. WhatsApp is a popular app that lets you text your friends internationally for free. You can use Google Chat to message your friends as well. Lastly, Facebook Messenger is a really useful app that not only lets you text your Facebook friends for free, but allows you to make VOiP calls as well.
DON’T: Call your carrier. That’s an even worse decision that calling Apple. At least, eventually, you may be able to talk to someone using the Apple customer service. When I call carriers, it take hours before I can speak to someone. Don’t waste your time or resources.
DO: Use e-mail and call someone. If you’re in dire need to get in touch with someone, you can email or call them. If they live in a different country, then you can just Skype with them for free, or use Google+ Hangouts or Facebook Skype to video chat with them as well. There are dozens of alternatives to iMessage that are both free and efficient.
DON’T: Tinker with your phone. Don’t go into Settings and try to figure out whats going on. No need to reset your wi-fi or data connection. And definitely no need to reset your phone (more on that later). Playing around with your phone usually causes more harm than good (trust me).
DO: Wait. Apple is usually pretty prompt when it comes to fixing service outages. At most, it’ll take a couple hours. Last night outage lasted about 3 or 4 hours, depending on where you’re located, but most users reported that it was fixed earlier that. Just wait it out and remember to keep check the Apple Status page.
DON’T: Reset your phone. Please. It’ll be really detrimental. Most likely, the problem is on Apple’s end, instead of in your phone, and resetting your device will force you to wipe the entire iPhone. It’s a big problem when you don’t back up your device every day. The potential to lose important pieces of data is amplified when you rest your phone, so be careful.