Apple will face iMessage lawsuit

Apple will face legal action relating to a problem with its iMessage service, US District Judge Lucy Koh has confirmed.

Former Apple user Adrienne Moore filed a class action lawsuit in May 2014 asking for unspecified damages after experiencing problems receiving text messages.

Moore switched from an iPhone 4 to a Samsung Galaxy S5 and found that text messages from Apple users were not being delivered to the Android device because her number was still associated with iMessage.

Problems with text message delivery persisted even after Moore turned off the iMessage option on her iPhone, the lawsuit alleges.

"According to Plaintiff, Apple knew about the undelivered messages problem, her contractual right to send and receive text messages, and still knowingly failed to alert her," Judge Koh explained in court papers.

"Accepting these allegations as true and constru[ing] the pleadings in the light most favourable' to Plaintiff, the Court concludes Plaintiff has sufficiently pled that Apple intentionally acted to disrupt or breach Plaintiff's contract with Verizon Wireless."

Koh went on to acknowledge that the claimant does not have to prove "an absolute right" to receive every text message in order to show a breach or dispute in the contract.

The judgment will come as a blow to Apple, which released an online tool allowing users to deregister from iMessage, earlier this week.

A date for the trial has yet to be disclosed.