Apple has just announced the release of their new useful tool called iMessage that will help users when they want to switch from an iPhone to a different smartphone. The new Apple iMessage tool will allow users to deactivate the phone number from the annoying iMessage system.

There have been many iPhone users who have complained that they couldn’t receive text messages after changing their iPhone for a smartphone, a non Apple device. The problem that kept users from receiving text messages on their new phones was the iMessage system. It intercepted text messages even after the phone number was put into a different phone. The Apple iMessage service only exists on Apple devices, so the users could not receive messages sent by people who still had Apple devices if the iMessage system had not been disabled before changing to another phone.

The only solution the ex-iPhone user had was to deactivate the old devices from the Apple accounts. That was before. Apple announced that from now on users can go to the iMessage tool and simply enter the phone number they want to remove from iMessage. Apple will send the users a 6-digit code as a confirmation and they have to type it in the browser window. After that, the problem is solved.

Before the new iMessage tool, Apple told users who complained about lost text messages that they could call the customer support to deactivate the phone number from their data base. That wasn’t quite the most efficient solution because many complained about getting the runaround from the customer service. No surprises there. Apple was even sued over the iMessage business in May. The lawsuit said that Apple didn’t say anywhere that switching to a different smartphone the user will not be able to receive the text messages on the new phone. The suit was based on unfair competition laws and contractual interference.

The new will supposedly make it easier to leave the Apple system and avoid any future problems.
So if you ever want to leave the iPhone and try an Android , a Windows Phone or a Blackberry, you need to go to iMessage and make sure you get all your text messages.