A new bug was discovered on the iMessage platform when sending texts to Android users.

iPhone users have taken to social media to voice concerns regarding a strange bug. When texting people who have Android phones, the iMessage adds a ‘+’ symbol at the beginning of the phone number. The bug extends to those who are using Google Voice numbers and seems to affect only those who are residing in the US.
The ‘+’ iMessage bug turns the phone number into an international one even when it’s not, and a normal US number becomes an international number, which causes unwanted issues en route to text delivery. iPhone owners have taken online to report the bug, but there seems to be no fix as of the moment.
Apparently, the bug isn’t tied to the newly-released iOS 16.5 because the issue began even before it was launched. Several solutions have been outlined by the people to resolve the concern.