A viral rumor has people rethinking choosing iPhone over Android.
This week, Apple issued its latest update: iOS 18.5 fixes bugs, improves performance, and adds new features.
Now people are claiming that one of those new features allows you search anyone’s message history by phone number alone.
If so, such would be a serious privacy issue. It would also be a new way to catch a cheating or lying partner. This possibility has generated mixed reactions.
So is it true? Can you search someone else’s iMessage history by phone number alone?
Yes and no.
Apple iOS 18.5 update sparks rumors
Earlier this week, a TikTok user claimed that “you can now see iMessage chat history of anyone with only their number.”
“Apple really ruined my day,” Yasemin Hein (@yasemine.hein) adds in the caption.
As of this writing, her post has been viewed 11 million times.
Comments range from horror to curiosity. Some people even suggested filing a class-action lawsuit against Apple, the maker of the iPhone.
“How do I turn that off cause that’s such an invasive thing,” wrote one.
Many of the thousands of comments are from people who want to know how it’s done. “That’s terrible how do you do it,” one joked.
A day later, another TikTok creator went viral with the same allegation about iPhone’s update allowing people to search message history with just a phone number.
Tyra May (@tyra.may) captioned her post “if you ain’t get caught with that sharing screen facetime oh baby some of yall done.”
May’s TikTok has 1 million views. The comments are similar to those on Hein’s post.
“Somebody spouse at Apple is cheating on them!!” one of the comments reads.
Via direct message, May said, “You would need to give permission just like you have to give permission for them to access your phone during screenshare; however, everything is allegedly there isn’t anything final for the new update.”
Hein did not respond to a direct message seeking comment.
Just an iRumor?
While the claim that you can basically access someone else’s iMessage history with just a phone number naturally drew a lot of attention, it’s a bit misleading.
It is possible to search an iPhone’s message history with just phone numbers. But you have to have access to the phone.
This access can be physical, as in you have the phone in your hand. It can also reportedly be granted remotely via screen sharing.
The iPhone screen-sharing feature allows you to control someone else’s phone. It’s been around since at least the iOS 18 update, as YouTuber Dan’s Tutorials explained at the time.
So technically, it is possible to search through your partner or pal’s message history from your phone. But they have to explicitly grant you permission to control their phone. And they can revoke this permission at any time.
That may little comfort to people who want to search through their partner’s iPhone. But perhaps they could try the old fashioned way and just pick it up. Or find someone to be with who they can trust.
Apple didn’t respond to an emailed inquiry about the viral iPhone rumor sent Friday morning.
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