Woman Sues Apple Over Missing iMessages

A woman is suing Apple (NasdaqGS: AAPL - news) because she cannot receive iMessages on non-Apple devices.

The service allows users to send messages through Apple's encrypted communication network and does not work on other phone systems such as Android or Windows Phone.

When some customers switch from iPhones to another device, iMessages are not rerouted to their new phones.

Former iPhone owner Adrienne Moore claims the issue effectively meant her wireless service contract was disrupted, violating a California law on unfair competition.

Ms Moore says Apple failed to communicate the issue to its customers and is seeking unspecified damages and class-action status for her case.

This means that any payout by Apple could be shared between all users affected by the iMessage issue, which was recently fixed.

In response to the suit - filed in May - Apple said: "Apple takes customer satisfaction extremely seriously, but the law does not provide a remedy when, as here, technology simply does not function as plaintiff subjectively believes it should."

But this week Judge Lucy Koh said there was a case to answer.

She said Ms Moore has a right to attempt to prove Apple obstructed her use of her new Android phone and hampered full use of her Verizon (NYSE: VZ - news) contract.