News Digest

Apple faces U.S. lawsuit over vanishing iPhone text messages

Apple is facing a U.S. federal lawsuit that claims it failed to tell consumers that its messaging system would block them from receiving text messages if they switched from iPhones. U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh said Apple must face plaintiff Adrienne Moore’s claim that the message blocking interfered with her telco contract for wireless service, which she kept after switching to a Samsung Galaxy S5. Moore, who seeks class-action status and unspecified damages, claims that Apple failed to disclose how its iOS 5 software operating system would obstruct the delivery of “countless” messages from other Apple device users if iPhone users switched to non-Apple devices.

Plaintiff does not have to allege an absolute right to receive every text message in order to allege that Apple’s intentional acts have caused an actual breach or disruption of the contractual relationship.

U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh

In a Monday night decision, Koh said Moore deserved a chance to show Apple disrupted her wireless service contract and violated a California unfair competition law, by blocking messages meant for her. But in court papers, Apple said it never claimed that its iMessage service and Messages application, which ran with iOS 5, would recognise when iPhone users switched to rival devices. Apple now has an online tool, (https://selfsolve.apple.com/deregister-imessage), to help people who switch to non-Apple smartphones retrieve messages from iPhone users.