User profile for user: jhengstler
jhengstler Author
User level: Level 1
9 points

On iPhone 15 now running iOS 26, lost ability to send messages to Android user (cellphone) on their iPad (with their Apple ID). How do I fix this?

My sister has an Android phone and an iPad. Suddenly she's not able to receive texts or images from me in Messages on her iPad. I've spent the last 2 days--updating to iOS 26 then working with AI to try to resolve the issue. I've deleted and added her back as a contact, rebooted a number of times, changed my default sending ID from my cellphone to my apple email. I needed to delete all conversations where she was a part, but despite reactivating threads, reconnecting her continue to find "ghost" conversations:

"We have now ruled out:


  • Spotlight indexing
  • Siri suggestions
  • Normal Messages deletions
  • iCloud sync mismatches
  • Cached contact identities
  • Hidden “group contact cards”
  • Stuck indexing after reboot
  • Missing Spotlight/Siri menus in iOS 26
  • Insufficient storage
  • Messages-in-iCloud disabled/enabled cycles

And everything you have described points to a very specific problem:


🎯 The “ghost threads” you see are Message database orphan entries

This means the SQLite Messages database on your device still contains message thread metadata, even though:


  • the conversation is deleted
  • the contact card is deleted
  • Siri/Spotlight indexing is disabled
  • your phone rebooted
  • Messages in iCloud was toggled

These “stub” threads:


  • appear only in Search
  • open as a blank screen
  • show participants at top
  • cannot be deleted
  • cannot be left
  • do not allow typing
  • show “Add to Contacts”
  • persist even after iCloud cleanup
  • do NOT appear in the list of conversations
  • still appear even after “Sync Now” or reboots

This is classic orphan-thread behavior and is known in the developer community as:



Chat.db orphaned handles / orphaned chat entries


And in iOS 26, because Apple changed the structure of Messages + Siri, Spotlight can no longer purge these on its own."

So what do I do now?

iPhone 15 Plus, iOS 26

Posted on Nov 26, 2025 12:28 PM

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User profile for user: jhengstler
jhengstler Author
User level: Level 1
9 points

Posted on Dec 9, 2025 1:50 PM

So as an update, I went nuclear--cleared all my messages--because let's face it if you keep archiving messages there are so many conversations you can be in with another person vs 1:1. I removed virtually all ghost conversations and all her contact information. One thread remained no matter what.

At the end of the day, the remaining issue was identified to be an Apple ID conflict that her iPad could not resolve. I was using an @me.com legacy email address for my primary Apple ID--and it didn't matter if I checked the @icloud one, or specified to start new conversations from the @cloud one--beneath that in iOS6 iMessage settings in small letters the primary account I was signing into Apple with was shown--as @me. I then had to update my Apple ID to the @icloud vs @me address--and set it as my "primary" which was a pain. I lost access to my Apple music that I purchased for a bit and I had to "transfer" it to the @icloud ID. (@me--and @mac--are legacy Apple addresses that worked with the updated @icloud addresses by aliasing the accounts). I separated her Android contact information from her @icloud contact information with new contacts and different names.


The issue is now on her end with her iPad. I can receive her texts, I can react to her texts, I can initiate a FaceTime audio or video call. Until she deals with the ID conflict on her end, which may be tied to an old text conversation yet to be identified and deleted--and does a few other steps, my iMessage texts will not go through. She only has my @icloud contact--she deleted all others. I have suggested she wipe all conversations but she is not willing to do that as yet.


Apple's programmers have REALLY dropped the ball here.

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User profile for user: jhengstler
jhengstler Author
User level: Level 1
9 points

Dec 9, 2025 1:50 PM in response to jhengstler

So as an update, I went nuclear--cleared all my messages--because let's face it if you keep archiving messages there are so many conversations you can be in with another person vs 1:1. I removed virtually all ghost conversations and all her contact information. One thread remained no matter what.

At the end of the day, the remaining issue was identified to be an Apple ID conflict that her iPad could not resolve. I was using an @me.com legacy email address for my primary Apple ID--and it didn't matter if I checked the @icloud one, or specified to start new conversations from the @cloud one--beneath that in iOS6 iMessage settings in small letters the primary account I was signing into Apple with was shown--as @me. I then had to update my Apple ID to the @icloud vs @me address--and set it as my "primary" which was a pain. I lost access to my Apple music that I purchased for a bit and I had to "transfer" it to the @icloud ID. (@me--and @mac--are legacy Apple addresses that worked with the updated @icloud addresses by aliasing the accounts). I separated her Android contact information from her @icloud contact information with new contacts and different names.


The issue is now on her end with her iPad. I can receive her texts, I can react to her texts, I can initiate a FaceTime audio or video call. Until she deals with the ID conflict on her end, which may be tied to an old text conversation yet to be identified and deleted--and does a few other steps, my iMessage texts will not go through. She only has my @icloud contact--she deleted all others. I have suggested she wipe all conversations but she is not willing to do that as yet.


Apple's programmers have REALLY dropped the ball here.

Reply

On iPhone 15 now running iOS 26, lost ability to send messages to Android user (cellphone) on their iPad (with their Apple ID). How do I fix this?

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