Microsoft responds to 2016 SMS bug; not just cell phones affected

By Phil Nickinson
last updated

The saga of the Year 2016 text message bug continues. While there's not an official fix as of yet we, do have a workaround (download here). And we just received an official statement from a Microsoft spokesperson:

“Microsoft is aware of reports that phone messages received after 1/1/2010 may be dated 2016. These reports have not yet resulted in widespread customer inquiries; however, we are working closely with our manufacturing and mobile operator partners to investigate the cause and correct the issue as appropriate.”

So, they're on it. Sort of. Hopefully we'll see an official patch soon.

In other news, just heard that this sort of bug is affecting not just cell phones. Philip tells us:

The bug is also affecting EFTPOS terminals in Australia. Retail stores can't charge transactions to customer's credit cards, because the EFTPOS terminal thinks the data is 2016 and therefore the customer's card is considered expired.

Everybody into the bomb shelters.

Phil Nickinson
Phil Nickinson

Phil is the father of two beautiful girls and is the Dad behind Modern Dad. Before that he spent seven years at the helm of Android Central. Before that he spent a decade in a newsroom of a two-time Pulitzer Prize-finalist newspaper. Before that — well, we don't talk much about those days. Subscribe to the Modern Dad newsletter!

43 Comments
  • This is NOT a widespread windows mobile issue. I have a Omnia 2 running winmo 6.5 that does not have this issue. I believe that this is a HTC issue.
  • It's a combination of OS and carrier-SMS-gateways, along with some dated code that is causing the issue. LGs, HTC, Treos, etc. all experiencing it, relative to network (CDMA seems to be the biggest culprit at this point). Also, we've had nearly 90 responses to the original article and in the realm 4 THOUSAND downloads of the temporary workaround .cab. That's *just from us*, now factor in all the mirrors and forum postings. You want to tell me this *isn't* widespread again?
  • My stupid google android is affected to this bug. i am going for windows mobile has they have a patch and google idiots dont. google stick to your web browser search instead.
  • i have droid motorola aris which was affected.
  • I have a Sprint Mogul (HTC Titan) that's been flashed to MetroPCS, with the Verizon SMS app that's affected.
  • I am using an HTC Touch PRO 2 on T mobile and having no issues.
  • I'm using an HTC PRO 2 on Verizon and I'm having this issue.
  • Sorry, HTC Touch Pro 2 and I'm not having this issue.
  • Unlocked Palm Treo Pro and I am NOT having this problem.
  • I have the sprint touch pro 2 running windows mobile 6.5 and I am having the issues. I have to scroll up and down to find the news message when I get a text.
  • I have an HTC Touch Diamond through Sprint. Definitely got the problem. This bug is rather annoying, despite the community-based workaround. Called Sprint Support and they have no clue. They asked questions like "Is the clock on your phone correct? Are you sure? Remove you battery for 1 minute. Did you install any apps recently?" *USELESS*
  • I also have Sprint and I have the Palm Pro, the "tech support" guy asked me the same questions and then told me it was a widespread outage on all phones for text messaging, when I told him that I also have a Blackberry that is unaffected he was speechless! I agree USELESS
  • I am on AT&T, and have a WM 5.0 device and i don't have this issue. i am wondering if it is the cell carrier, OS, or device manufacturer problem.
  • Touch Pro 2 @ Sprint - I have it too. I'm worried we could be affected by this for a while before we see an "official" Sprint hotfix. It is rather annoying in threaded messaging as you never see your previous message before their response. All you see is the other persons messages unless you scroll way up. Gets old after a bit... I'm about to apply the temp. cab fix because I doubt we will see anything official soon.
  • for WM devices its a simple reg edit that fixes the problem
  • No, That's just a workaround. You no longer see what time an SMS was sent, only what time you received it.
  • HTC Touch Pro (1) on Sprint and have had this issue since 12:01AM 1/1...incoming and outgoing SMS... all my friends in NYC on Sprint Win devices I pinged have same issue...and that's at least 25 people that responded to my email. This is definitely a widespread issue.
  • Palm is having the same issue since 12:01am 1/1/2010 :(
  • Ya. I have HTC touch PRO with Alltel and have had the problem since 12.01 newyears. I havent contacted customer support cuz I'm on hold for an hour and they never tell me anything useful. Also, im running WM 6.1 and it wont let me check for updates. It says something like "cannot connect to server. Make sure date and time is correct" >_
  • my htc mogul is affected. my outgoing texts have a time stamp. my incoming text do not. they are all dated xx/xx/16.... it's annoying! how do i fix this??
  • the guy saying he has a htc mogul and u cannot see the time stamp of incoming texts. I have a mogul as well, though it is true that just looking at your inbox and seeing a list of texts, it will just show the date, and no time, you can open the text message and use the bar on the right side to scroll up and you can see the time the message was received.
  • My HTC TP2 and my daughters TP1 are both affected...funny how the WM haters started badgering Microsoft. From what I read here, it's affecting non-WM phones also.
  • My HTC Touch Pro2 with WM 6.1 on Sprint had this, took me a while to catch on though.
  • It's a Sprint issue obviously.
    note that some of those other lesser companies also use Sprint's network, such as alltel, virgin and MetroPCS.
  • I have HTC Touch Pro, running WM 6.1, and have Alltel service. I have been having this issue since 1/1/2010... Thanks for the temporary patch WMExperts! Hope to get an offical patch from Microsoft soon, and/or Alltel.
  • I applied Ziggy's CAB fix as soon as it came out, and it worked, but today, I'm back to seeing 2016 on incoming SMS's. WUWT? (Later, but before submitting this...) I realized: yesterday, I installed BAF MSL Grabber and .NET Compact Framework 3.5, and the SMS's I got today that were dated 2016 were the first since then. I reinstalled Ziggy's CAB and all is well again. One or the other of the above 2 installs must reset the reg entry (?).
  • Okay... no comments to whether or not this this temp fix is working? Treo Pro - Verizon.
  • well the fix cab file didnt work...how could this not be widespread inquiry???
  • I have the HTC Diamond on Sprint and have the problem. I can't see any time stamp on any messages, just the date. How can I get back to seeing the time stamp?
  • > I have the HTC Diamond on Sprint and have the problem.
    > I can't see any time stamp on any messages, just the
    > date. How can I get back to seeing the time stamp? Did you install the fix from this page yet?
    https://www.windowscentral.com/e?link=https2F2Fcli...
  • I average about 10k texts a month and everyday I spend more and more time trying to locate my messages and respond. Sprint has proven to be useless and blamed Microsoft at one time. Now they state its a Manufacture issue. I have friends that have the same HTC phone I have on other service providers and they dont have this issue. It has been weeks with no fix.
  • Tried to download/install the temporary fix on my treo pro (also from Alltel - now Verizon) and "messaging won't open the file" because it could be unsafe. Now what do I do?
  • i would like to know how to fix this problem once the mobile phone gets infected with the 2016 bug. cheap mobile
  • You are not "infected" it is simply a binary issue that your phone misreads the time stamps. It is not a sprint or windows or HTC issue. It is a CDMA device running windows mobile issue... that happens to be primarily sprint and primarily HTC. The temporary fixes seem pretty pointless to me they basically tell your registry to display when you got the sms not when it was sent to you. So if my phone is off or I am in a data session I may get that sms hours after it was sent. I want to see when it was sent to me. I guess we are all just waiting. For now since sms date stamps are no that important to me and I don't save alot of sms per person anyhow I barely notice. Thought it was pretty funny for a few days even. I would think since my OS in WM 6.1 they should get us a hotfix. I DO NOT want anything that may require a hard reset.
  • 2016 Timestamp hotfixes for HTC phones are currently available for: Sprint Touch Pro, Sprint Touch Diamond, Sprint Touch Pro 2, U.S. Cellular Touch, U.S. Cellular Touch Pro, U.S. Cellular Touch Pro 2, Alltel Touch Diamond, Alltel Touch Pro 2. These are all on HTC.com for free download, hotfixes for other phone models/carriers are coming.
  • I have an older HTC P4000 (Tytan). My phone carrier (Telus) blames Microsoft. Last I checked MS didn't think it was them. HTC doesn't support the phone anymore. Safe to say 30 days later whoever's at fault has no intention on fixing this simple little glitch some idiotic programmer couldn't foresee in the first place? Time for a new phone I guess...WM 6.1 works about as well as Vista did on release anyway.
  • the smartest and easiest way to fix this is to change the year on your phone to 2016 and everything will be straight. the only difference is that u know that it isn't actuall 2016 but the calander is the same as 2010 and everythings right side up again.
  • Unlocked Palm Treo Pro and I am NOT having this issue.
  • Thanks for providing the fix and keeping this page up. I've needed to use it twice now on a Treo Palm Pro... fixed it for me back in January and after a hard reset today it reverted to 2016 again...grr.
    Thanks guys!
  • Palm Treo Pro Affected
  • You are not "infected" it is simply a binary issue that your phone misreads the time stamps. It is not a sprint or windows or HTC issue. It is a CDMA device running windows mobile issue... that happens to be primarily sprint and primarily HTC. The temporary fixes seem pretty pointless to me they basically tell your registry to display when you got the sms not when it was sent to you. So if my phone is off or I am in a data session I may get that sms hours after it was sent. I want to see when it was sent to me. I guess we are all just waiting. For now since sms date stamps are no that important to me and I don't save alot of sms per person anyhow I barely notice. Thought it was pretty funny for a few days even. I would think since my OS in WM 6.1 they should get us a hotfix. I DO NOT want anything that may require a hard reset. m65 kamagra attorney lawyer scrub
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  • the GDR 8.1.1 will have this fix?