If the messaging app is open while no devices are connected, then a device is connected, it send a request for all current conversations. This request goes missing due to an un-investigated situation where packets sent shortly after the connection starts being initialized are lost.

Since we never get a reply to the request for conversations, the GUI is forever empty (unless the user sends/receives an SMS by some other mechanism, in which case it becomes populated with that conversation)

This could be band-aid fixed at the level of the Messaging GUI with some refresh button or automatic retry if we don't see a response to the request for conversations, but it would be better to address the underlying problem which is causing packets to go missing