Switched from iPhone? Here is a tool to release iMessage

So how much is Apple charging for this?

Apple has been using iMessage to hold people hostage basically...If you used iMessage and then switched to android, most of your texts from iPhone users wouldn't go through...End result was people bringing the androids back and get another iPhone.

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You can turn off iMessage from your phone. Always could.

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Some people don't realize this though. Its a nice little resolution tool for those who have rehabed away from apple and maybe traded/sold their idevice before deactivating imessage.

Also, my mom has an iphone and I wasn't getting any text from her nor she from I. One day when she was at my house, I checked her settings and she had the option to "send as sms when imessage is unavailable" turned off.

I know. CSB, pics or GTFO, BRB, etc.

It really is about time. No excuse for taking this long to fix this.

I've posted before that this problem seemed a little overblown, and maybe it still is, but recently my niece bought a Galaxy S5 to replace her iPhone 4. We had some issues with group texts between her and me and my wife's iPhones. We sorted it out but it was a PITA.

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This seems more like a feature gone wrong than a conspiracy.

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This might be believable if it didn't take them years to streamline the process. Also, hijacking someone's phone number is a huge no-no, and the consequences of that had to come up on day 1 of planning. Apple knew what they were doing, and chose to ignore the problem until they were sued.

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When you switch to a new phone how is Apple supposed to know?

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Well, problem #1 is Apple shouldn't have to know when you switch phones in order for you to receive text messages on a phone made by another manufacturer. Also, by nature of being a chat service with delivery confirmation, Apple knows exactly how long your phone has gone without checking messages. They could easily send you an SMS asking to turn off iMessage after only a few days, rather than the 30+ they wait before deactivating it. Also, they could have turned off iMessage immediately when people called support to do so, rather than still wait days before actually doing it.

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This really seems like something that should have been a solution provided through the wireless carriers support system (even if Apple creates/handles the deregistration page), they're the ones that know when you switch phones and part of the standard set up of a new phone should be any relevant deactivation of the old phone.

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Except the only reliable method of iMessage deactivation, until now, has been doing so on the phone itself. Which, as you might imagine, is a problem if the reason for switching is a dead or lost iPhone. Calling Apple support to deactivate it is well-documented as being hit-or-miss, and there is really no excuse for this. There have always been too many easy solutions to this "problem" for it to have remained for so long, that the only explanation is Apple did it intentionally. Especially now with the timing of this deactivation page and the associated lawsuit.

Stop apologizing for Apple's blatant manipulation of customers.