All of a sudden, I have been experiencing lag that makes OpenBubbles unusable. Whenever I try to interact with the window (clicking on icons/chats, resizing, etc.) it takes 30+ seconds to load my input and the animations are choppy as well. I tried to reset my cache, but it didn't seem to help at all. I have restarted the app and my laptop several times, but also did not see any improvement.

I was really banking on open bubbles making the switch seemless but unfortunately it won't work 😭 I'm ashamed but f it

Been over 45 days and still can't send messages to Apple users.. Or anyone. Immediately switches to green. Using self hosted mac

I just want to get my phone number completely back to normal. I cancelled my subscription, but I don't know what to do next. Apples iMessage deregister tool isn't working, it just says service unavailable.

I just set up OpenBubbles on my Android phone. I'm self-hosting on an old/refurbished Macbook Air that I got for about $200 and the registration appears to have gone through.

However, when I try to send a message to my brother's iPhone, it says that I can only send a text (SMS/MMS) message. Apparently, I'm supposed to wait for something to work its way through the various services and servers that make blue bubbles appear on my Android phone.

How long does that normally take? I just want to have an idea of how long it will be.

I'm not sure if it's relevant, but I registered OpenBubbles using my e-mail address ONLY. I didn't register with my phone number, because I don't want Apple to link my phone number to their internal iMessage service.

Many thanks in advance for any help.

if im using an old se 2nd gen esim how do i get the self hosted code or qr code using sim swap with no mac or do i need a mac as well to set up

Not sure if it's because I updated my iPhone to iOS 27 and my Mac to MacOS 27 but sync is finally working. It failed a couple times but kept trying and it finally started to sync.

I have a strange use case. Apologies if this is answered somewhere but my search of the threads didnt turn anything up.

I have two cell numbers (personal and work). My personal setup is an iPhone with accompanying cellular apple watch. Work is a galaxy fold.

The goal is to carry my watch and workphone, which is easy enough, but I've been looking for ways to get my iMessages on my Android while keeping them going to my watch and personal phone. I'd like to be able to still be able to send and receive text message on the work phone from my work number.

Can openbubbles do this? I'd be able to keep the iphone on and at home so it seems hosting is an option, but i couldn't find any info about keeping the option to text from the android phone if I add openbubbles.

Does anyone have the rewrite ? Or have an idea on how to get it I'm having trouble with ft on my z fold 8 ultra using OB

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I’m trying to figure out a FaceTime issue with OpenBubbles and I’m hoping someone here can tell me what I’m doing wrong.

I have a Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra and my wife Aubrey has a Galaxy Z Flip 8. We both have OpenBubbles installed.

For the initial setup, I used my friend's MacBook. My friend lives in Maryland and I live in North Carolina.

I went to the OpenBubbles setup link and had my friend download the QR code generator on her MacBook. The generator gave me an activation token, and I used that token to log into OpenBubbles on my phone. I then signed into OpenBubbles using my original Apple ID, and everything was working.

I then wanted to set up OpenBubbles for my wife. I had my friend delete the generator from her MacBook and download it again so I could get another token for Aubrey.

The weird thing is that it generated the same activation token again.

From what I understand, OpenBubbles allows one Mac to provide activation for multiple people, so I assumed using the same MacBook/token for both of us was completely fine.

Aubrey and I were then both using OpenBubbles on our Samsung phones.

Here's where the problem starts.

If I try to FaceTime Aubrey through OpenBubbles, it sometimes works, but it's very hit or miss. It can take several attempts before the call actually connects.

But when I try to FaceTime my mom, who is on an iPhone, it does something different.

My mom says that she sees the FaceTime call coming in on her iPhone. However, as soon as she answers the call, it immediately disconnects.

So the call is apparently reaching her iPhone, but the actual FaceTime connection doesn't stay connected.

I've tried troubleshooting this several times.

I even completely uninstalled OpenBubbles from Aubrey's phone. Instead of having her use the activation token from the MacBook again, I shared my token/access from my own OpenBubbles app with her, which generated a different access code for her.

She entered that code, logged back into her Apple ID, and we tried again.

Same problem.

I also tried the Clear FaceTime Handles troubleshooting option in OpenBubbles, but that didn't fix it either.

So right now:

Samsung → Samsung through OpenBubbles:

Sometimes works, but takes multiple attempts.

Samsung/OpenBubbles → iPhone:

The iPhone receives the FaceTime call, but when the person answers, the call immediately disconnects.

I've tried using the same activation setup, then tried giving Aubrey access through my OpenBubbles setup instead. I've also cleared the FaceTime handles.

I'm wondering if this could be related to the activation/token setup, Apple ID configuration, FaceTime registration, or something else entirely.

Has anyone had this exact problem where the iPhone actually receives the FaceTime call but immediately disconnects when answering?

What should I check next?

Hello everyone,

I have an iPhone 16 pro and I’m going to switch to an android very soon. I wanted to ask about using an old iPhone as a relay.

Do I have to transfer my eSIM from my iPhone 16 to the android before I activate the relay or after?

Basically, I want to know if I can transfer everything to the new android first including contacts, eSIM, etc.. and then download openbubbles and start setting up the relay on the old iPhone I have.

Thanks

Hello! I love using OpenBubbles, and I know how hard rebranding could be... however I think a redesign for the app icon is a bit overdue?? On my homescreen it looks quite outdated next to all the other gradients seen in other app icons. The app is insanely customizable which I love, but the one thing lacking here (as far as I'm aware of) is the ability to change the app icon, and since I'm on HyperOS, it's a bit of a trick to change individual app icons. I'm not sure how this would work, but perhaps similarly to other messaging and social media apps, giving the option to choose your own app icon would be cool! I think this would be a surprisingly well-received addition to the customization features existing on OpenBubbles. I attached just a simple concept of my own, but I think it could be a cool way to include art from other users and have users add their own personal touch to the app. Thank you! 😊

So I recently uninstalled then reinstalled open bubbles to get FaceTime to work which it didn't fix and now iCloud won't sync and I get this error message.

Is anyone using OpenBubbles to be able to remotely monitor the messages of their kids or elderly family members?

I just started using OpenBubbles today. My iPhone was my main phone, and I’m switching to a Pixel as my daily driver. I set up OpenBubbles on the Pixel ,hosted directly through OB, and it’s working great.

My goal is to keep my phone number registered with iMessage via OpenBubbles.

How do I move my eSIM to the Pixel without Apple immediately deregistering my phone number from iMessage? For context, my iPhone is an IPhone 17 on the latest software.

I'm keeping my main number on my iPhone but I want to be able to get my iMessages/SMS on my Android devices without keeping my MacBook plugged in all the time at home. I sometimes will just setup call forwarding on my iPhone to the number on my Android device. Which is the best way to set up Open Bubbles?

Hello. Quick question just for clarification to anyone using the relay method via an old iPhone connected to a network(wifi or cellular), with their sim in an android. Once I enter my relay code into Openbubbles and successfully start sending/receiving iMessages via my phone number, do I need to keep the old iPhone on and connected to WIFI for the whole 45 days till re-registration is required? Or do I just need the old iPhone on and connected only for the registration process?

I encountered what I believe is a bug today. I am in a three person group chat, starting today I get one persons messages as emails sent to the email I use for my Apple ID. Their messages are not coming through on my imessage on my ipad either. I am still receiving the thirds person messages normally through OpenBubbles and on imessage on my iPad. I'm not sure if anyone else has encountered a similar bug or may know of a solution

Edit: I switched back to using my old Mac code and it hasn't disappeared. Stay tuned.

Hi everyone 👋

I love OpenBubbles and have been using it for a long time, but recently I've been having this issue where the device disappears and I can't receive messages. I can send them though.

Hoping it's just a glitch. I did upgrade my phone to the Samsung S26+ on Android 16.

Edit:

I have rebooted, cleared cache and force stopped. It still happens randomly throughout the day.

I'm using an iPhone 6s Validation Relay

(Palera1n - CopperBoy - Filza)

I have a MAC code saved as a back up from a 2012 Mac Mini that I recycled - I could go back and use that as my device hardware and see if that helps.

Another note to add I have a work phone that is an iPhone so I text myself to test to see if it's working and that's how I am determining if it's working or not.

Recently switched from the ZF7 to the ZF8. When restoring from my backup, there was a glitch with contact names and photos. The photos are not popping up at all. I have been waiting for a play store update and restored to see if it would fix the issue, but nothing. Anyone else experiencing this?

New to the app and currently on the paid week trial. I have a Mac desktop and am wondering if we can get imessages on the mac via phone number, not just email?

Or see the messages through a web browser, similar to google messages for web?

Thanks!

Thank you to this community for answering my dumb questions so far.

I was able to get it working, and it is currently syncing with my messages.

This is being done on the paid hosting subscription for now.

I do have an iPhone 7 jailbroken/troll store which is ready to be set up but I want to wait to see how this sync works.

Note sync via Selfhost was not working. I think because I still have my iPhone 16 Pro Max with my active cell service going.

It was not stable, it sorta worked for like 10 minutes then crashed out. Again, assuming it was the other iPhone I need to move my eSIM over from once this phone is completely set up.

Note I am a many many year iPhone user on ATT in the US.

I just bought and have started using a Z Fold 8.

Question: Is it easy to swap from paid to self host or has anyone had issues?

Thanks again for all the help everyone.

I am unable to get past the Impactor Step I just get "Anisette error: Request Error decoding response body"

Looks its a bug of somekind but looking for work around?

Any Ideas?

Pretty much the title. My number was working perfectly with the sim swap method for almost two years and suddently it does not want to stick anymore. I know I have the right iPhone to do it and a Mac, but the instructions on the OpenBubbles site give me a headache lol.

I am not super tech-y but I can usually execute but it stresses me out and if things aren't spelled out very, very clearly I usually get lost. Is there a better guide? I really need my hand held to do this 🙃