Why does contact name delay occur in iOS 18.4.1 Messages app?

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Why does contact name delay occur in iOS 18.4.1 Messages app?

Hi,

Since the iOS 18.4 update, when I open Messages, each conversation (SMS, RCS, iMessages), the contact's phone number appears briefly (about 2 seconds), then is replaced by the name as it is saved in my address book.

The problem is occurred after I edited a contact's information in my address book.

The iOS 18.4.1 update did not resolve this issue.

I tried restarts (I turn off my iphone every night).

I also tried a force restart. After the forced restart, the problem didn't occur for 6 or 7 days, then finally returned just after receiving a Google login validation code via RCS message (I don't know if that might be related).

Does anyone else have the same problem?

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

iPhone 15 Pro, iOS 18

Posted on Apr 30, 2025 10:15 AM

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Answer 1

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ChrisJ4203

Level 10

236,291 points

May 15, 2025 10:04 AM in response to corentin113

Go to Settings>tap on your Apple Account>iCloud. You should see the setting for what is saved to iCloud. You may have to tap on See All if you do not see the Contacts setting there. Scroll until you find it and then turn the switch off. Restart the phone, then go back to that location and turn it back on. Make sure you are connected to a stable wi-fi to support the phone syncing again with iCloud.

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Answer 2

ChrisJ4203

Level 10

236,291 points

May 15, 2025 9:37 AM in response to corentin113

Okay, you mentioned 18.4. And you said that it is happening for all conversations? The thing is that it gets the contact information from Contacts. You can try turning off contacts in Settings, restart the iPhone and then turn them back on again and let them sync. See if that makes a difference.

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Answer 3

ChrisJ4203

Level 10

236,291 points

May 15, 2025 9:28 AM in response to corentin113

Try updating to iOS 18.5, that was just released. How are you managing your contacts? Are you using iCloud, or a different email account?

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Answer 4

ChrisJ4203

Level 10

236,291 points

May 15, 2025 9:02 AM in response to corentin113

Reading your post, it sounds like this happens with a single contact. Is that correct? You say that you edited the contact and now it is displaying this behavior. What type of edit did you do with this contact? I would say maybe the easiest thing to do is to delete the text conversation with that contact, then delete the contact and add it back again. See if that makes a difference.

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Answer 5

corentin113 Author

Level 1

5 points

May 15, 2025 9:25 AM in response to ChrisJ4203

The problem appeared after adding an accent to a letter. I replaced an "e" with an "é." I tried going back and changing the "e" back to what it was. The problem occurs in all conversations. I already tried deleting them completely. I force restarted my phone two weeks ago. The problem did not recur until today when I received a two-factor authentication text message. When I deleted the conversation after entering the 2FA code, the display problem reappeared once again on all conversations.

It seems that the problem appears when something happens directly with the Message application (editing a contact, deleting a conversation, etc.)

I'm very upset about the bugs Apple isn't fixing, and I really feel like I'm the only one having this problem.

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Answer 6

corentin113 Author

Level 1

5 points

May 15, 2025 9:33 AM in response to ChrisJ4203

I'm already running iOS 18.5. I'm using Apple's Contacts app, which syncs with my iCloud account.

I'm starting to think the Contacts app isn't the problem. I no longer had the problem after a force restart, and it came back today when I deleted a conversation with verification codes. I haven't touched my contacts in a while.

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