Question
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Topic
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Why can’t my Android-using friends message me on FB Messenger?
So yesterday evening (Mon 21 Feb), one of my friends who is an Android user messaged me to inform me that he can’t send me any messages on the Android mobile app for Facebook Messenger. Since then, three other friends (all Android users) have said they can’t message me. It just comes up with “This person is unavailable on Messenger”, as if they have all been blocked.
Here’s the weird part. Those same people (Android users) can video & audio call me. They can also share links with me (if you select the share option and choose who to send it to, rather than directly copying & pasting the URL). They can also react to my messages – i.e. give them a thumbs up, heart react, etc. They just can’t send text-based messages.
However, my phone is an Android and I can message anyone, Android & Apple users alike. My Android-using friends can also message other Android users. They just can’t message me.
My friends who are iPhone users can all message me just fine from their Apple version of the Facebook Messenger app, there’s no issues at all.
All of my friends (including the Android users) can message me from web browsers or the desktop version of the Messenger app just fine.
My Facebook account is deactivated, but I opted to keep Messenger. The only strange thing I can think of that’s happened is late on Sunday (20 Feb) evening (around 23:30), a friend shared a link (via the sharing method, not copying & pasting) for Facebook. When I clicked on it, it reactivated my account, but I did not receive a reactivation notification from Facebook in my emails (when every other time I would have). I deactivated my account again from the same open page that the link took me to. It was only after this that my friends reported problems the following morning.
It’s as if because I didn’t reactivate my account through a separate web browser page, it’s confused the Messenger app and for some reason only Android users cannot send me text-based messages on the app.
I’ve checked all the settings on my phone and none of them have changed. The Messenger app is the most up-to-date version too.
I’ve since reactivated my account (by clicking the link my friend shared again) and deactivated it through a separate web browser page to see if that makes any difference in the next day or so, but I just wondered if anyone here has any ideas on what on earth is happening?
