A lot of people owning iPhones still prefer the standard Messages app for sharing thoughts with their friends and loved ones, even though WhatsApp is gaining more and more fields. Apple updates its Messages app often, but still, the software can become annoying sometimes due to several factors.
One of the most annoying errors that iPhone users can face is the one called ‘message blocking is active.‘ You may have already guessed why such an error appears: you either blocked the person you’re trying to send a message to, or the person has blocked you.
However, there’s another common possibility that you might not know about: parental controls have established that your iPhone cannot send messages to a specific person.
There could be even more reasons why the ‘message blocking is active’ error occurs. But hopefully, you won’t need to know about them. So how can you get rid of the annoying error? We’ve made a list of a few possible fixes, so try them each one at a time to see if the problem goes away:
The first steps
We have no intention to offend you, but the first things you should do in order to try to solve the issue are the most simple ones. Don’t worry; it can happen to anybody to forget them, regardless of how aware we are of their importance:
- Restart your iPhone to see if the error goes away or not. A lot of errors are solved by simply restarting your device.
- Make sure you have enough cellular signal. Maybe you’re in a forest or a desolated area; if so, the pesky error can occur.
- Update your iPhone to the latest iOS version. A lot of software issues can occur as well if you’re using an outdated operating system. To update, simply head over to the Settings menu, then tap General, and choose Software Update.
- Check your list of blocked contacts. As we said, the ‘message blocking is active’ error can appear if you’ve blocked the person you’re trying to contact. Therefore, if that person is on your block list, you must tap the unblock option. To verify this, simply go to Settings, then tap on Phone, and hit the Blocked Contacts option.
Mistyping the number
If you accidentally type the number of the person wrong, don’t be surprised if the ‘message blocking is active’ error occurs. This means that you should simply check the phone number twice or more to find out if you’ve typed it correctly or not. Don’t neglect this step, regardless of how useless you may find it! A lot of people have to deal with the aforementioned error just because they weren’t careful enough when they were typing the phone number of a friend.
You can simply meet your friend face to face and ask for his number once again and check if it’s the same as the one you’ve added to your phone.
Don’t be afraid to ask!
Simply asking the person who you cannot contact if they’ve blocked you can save the day as well. If you think that the person gets intimidated fast, you can ask nicely something like, “did I bother you so badly that you blocked me?”. A lot of people usually don’t admit that they’ve blocked somebody if you ask them face-to-face. But hey, it’s their right to remain silent!
Of course, you need to physically meet the person in order to ask if you’ve been blocked. Or, you can use a friend’s phone to call or message the person from another number.
Keep calm and remain patient! You can certainly continue the connection with that friend or love of your dreams that has blocked you!
Henry Lares is still early into his career as tech reporter but has already had his work published in many major publications including Tech Crunch and the Huffington Post. In regards to academics, Henry earned an engineering degree from Apex Technical School. Henry has a passion for emerging technology and covers upcoming products and breakthroughs in science and tech.