Database Users

The Sprint Hero Lost SMS Debacle

I was all set to finally take the plunge and sign a contract with Sprint for the new Hero - just waiting for my prepaid cellphone account to run out of money. Now more and more reports have started coming in about the Sprint Hero and its issues with losing SMS, and possible MMS too. Some sauces:
Engadget's questioning > and the scary responses: http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/26/htc-hero-having-intermittent-text-messaging-problems/
Sprint Community's ongoing thead: http://community.sprint.com/baw/thread/22913?tstart=0
SprintUser.com's ongoing thead (there are many): http://www.sprintusers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=195769
Slightly older but still the same problem from here from XDA: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=572134
A few observations (feel free to add your own):
-UK/GSM Hero users are experiencing this, though to a much lesser extent
-A common, but not completely sweeping assessment is that affected users are using task killer programs or did at one time, even before a hard reset
-Soft resets tend to help the problem, though only temporarily (for some)
-People are getting the same issues on brand new phones that they exchanged for old ones.
Any thoughts? Do you have any personal experiences with this? I'm hoping to hold out till HTC/Sprint releases a patch or some sort of announcement about this problem but in the meantime, what has your experience, as a CDMA/Sprint Hero user, been like in regards to losing/delayed SMS and MMS messages?

From my experiance running Hero on the G1 lost text messages were due to the messeges app failing due to many things running and causing it to crash.
I can't speak for the sprint Hero, though I have not experienced any lost text messages I am aware of.
Maybe its a network issue?

I actually experienced it once. From what it appears, I downloaded a task manager and selected to kill all running apps. After I rebooted my phone though I have yet to experience any text message loses. Originally I was blaming it on a 3rd party messaging service, however now I really think it was as a result of killing the messaging app. This happened about a week and a half ago and so far *knocks on wood* have not experienced any other issues. Aside from that, I still love my hero. I honestly think that it is the best phone I have ever owned.

My biggest issue with SMS messages is that I've had up to a 3-4 minute delay between the timestamp on the message and when i get the notification. But AFAIK, I haven't lost any messages.
I think its a great phone so far. If Android keeps picking up as it appears to be, I think it can trump apple and iphone.

I have not lost any texts. I tested with texts to and from different carriers and area codes. I have not run any task killers. For what it's worth, I have not had any of the battery problems that people have run into either.

i had lost all of my SMS messages on my Sprint Hero after i installed Handcent SMS and used it for a couple days ( which so happened to be exactly a week after i bought the phone the messages were gone)

your sms's are still there, but they are in your messenger app, handcent doesn't access stuff that's already there, just the new stuff comming in. I don't belive it's possible to import the sms's that are already there, or at least there's not a known procedure on how to do so.
you can access them if you pull up your original messenger app, just no way to import/export. Sorry, probably not the answer you were looking for, but it is the correct one.

I had this problem when I first got my Hero, no text messages were being received, third party SMS app or not. My Hero said 'with Google' on the back. I exchanged it for one that just says 'htc', haven't had the problem since.

im worried
ive had the phone for 2 weeks.three days later i got the dreaded calls from friends and girlfriend that i havent been answering back to text. ive installed handcent sms and smstomailbox. from then on the problem has stopped.although i have sent myself some text and im yet to receive them no one has told me they cannot contact me. i just moved to sprint because i recently got a job as an assistant. my boss contacts me strictly through text. (you can imagine the magnitude of this issue) after all the forums ive read, i dont know what to do regarding this. my 30 days is almost up. i cant imagine a patch is not already on the works, but ive read this has been a known problem for some time. with Htc pumping out phones by the dozen and 1.6. / 2.0 updates taking the spotlight, i wonder if i should return my phone. the phone is real nice and i dont want a flimsy pre. seems too much stress for a device you pay good money for.i have the sprint hero with the "with google" in the back. seems like a bad time to get a phone with sprint since theres no news on wether this phone will be upgradeable or patched and the other phones are going to get upgraded soon. (HD2)

!!!
on another thread someone posted that the problem had been acknowledged . the post pointed to a flaw in the sms app that did not send a "memory full" notification back to the sms database server. so it seems theres a limit to the sms app capacity and it kinda locks down or something along those lines. lol (sorry ill post the link when i find it again) in other news 2.0 is coming to the hero. so i guess ill deal with the issues till then.

I purchased a Hero on launch day [early run device, without 'with Google' branding, only 'HTC' on the back cover] and quickly encountered the intermittent text message delivery debacle.
Bottom line, there were extended periods of time in which text messages being sent to me were simply not appearing on my phone. [Side note, this includes individuals both on and off the Sprint Network.] Turning the phone off and on usually alleviated the non-delivery / appearance problem but any messages sent during that time were gone. There was no flood of messages post restart.
I should note that on two occasions I did notice that I had received a text in the top notification bar but when I opened the Messaging App, the text was no where to be found.
It appears that the messages may indeed have been delievered... but the app is 'eating' them, so to speak. This *could* explain why on Sprint's end, everything looks fine on the network... or so I was told, which I believe.
My temp solution, as advised by forum / discussion posts by other Hero users was to install an alt Messaging App [I used Handcent SMS] and use this rather than the stock Messaging app. Additionally, I added 'SMS To Mail Lite' which forwarded a copy of my incoming texts to an email address. I experienced no intermittent outages / delivery failures / abductions at all. Both Handcent and the email inbox matched. While this 'worked' I was unable to replicate the bug but since I was using Handcent this might have been why.
Later, after spending some time on the phone w/Sprint Advanced Tech Support, they determined it was not a network issue and was due to the phone itself [as their system showed all my messages being delivered]. They set up a trouble ticket and I was able to swap my Hero for a new one at my local store. Caveat, I was still under the 30 day trial which made things much easier when I got to the store.
I was told by Advanced Tech Support that HTC has recognized this intermittent text delivery issue and they are working on a solution. I only mention 'Advanced' b/c the first individual I spoke with from regular Text Messaging Support had zero knowledge of this issue and was quick to deny any problems whatsoever. No one at the store knew anything about it either, but I wasn't expecting it. So if you speak with anyone at Sprint, expect that they might not know yet and be nice. You might even get a replacement phone.
Currently, I'm still using Handcent and really like it. Tried ChompSMS but just prefer the other. They're on par w/one another so be sure to check them both out if you prefer to go this route. Also, I used the 'My Backup Pro' app to restore my new phone to the original configuration. Certainly worth the $5.
Hope this helps.

Replying SMS lag.. (Slow loading of text messages)

Hi all,
I've just got my HD2 this morning. I'm having a problem when trying to create an SMS by replying from the text messages tab.
This particular contact has around 500 messages and pressing 'reply' takes more than 20 seconds before even the onscreen keyboard to load for me to type the reply. I've tried other contacts with less messages, whilst it is quick, there is still a noticeable lag to load all of the previous messages.
Is anyone else having this problem?

Yes. The contacts/text messaging app seems to suffer from a lot of slowdown. I also have the feeling it's linked to the number of messages for each contact.
Saving a contact after editing can be slow as well.

I did a bit of a search...looks like this is a problem with the HTC messaging app in Manila 2.5 ..... sigh........ such a fundamental problem!

Too many people complain about SMS issues. SMS functionality should be one of the very first tests you do to a modern mobile device during Q.A.
At least its still good to know that I'll be able to speak with it.

Same here. Too slow..

Here the same problem. Can somebody make a fix for it please?

Delete all the SMS history with the contact who is taking long for the keyboard to load up.
The reason for this slowdown is that it is loading all your SMS messages with that contact, both sent and received. Hence it takes ages to load up.
1. Go to the SMS screen for your slow-loading contact, wait for it to load
2. Press 'Menu'
3. Press 'Delete Messages'
4. Press 'Menu'
5. Press 'Select All'
6. Press 'Done'

Where is the snapdragon?
man I need to get this Phone,but this seems to be the first real let down ,I use lots of SMS and to me deleting is not an option.
Must be found a work around.

HTC definately rushed this ROM.
The calendar bug, the spelling mistake in the connections settings, apparently the speed is slower than the test ROMs, and now this.

Well the only thing that lags with Touch HD on wm6.5 with Manila 2.5 is the HTC SMS.. That what made be believe I should upgrade my device to HD2. Now that I see that the device is also lagging with a dozen of SMSs... Thanks but I will not buy it unless a solution is found. I have more than 2500 work SMS all business related and I CANT FIND A REASON TO DELETE IT.
DIDNT THEY TRY THE DEVICE BEFORE SELLING IT??
EVEN A NOKIA 3310 CAN STORE 500+ SMS !!

Yes a nokia can store that many text, but they arent in a chat type session, thats why it takes so long because it loads all of them in one hit.

loomx said:
Yes a nokia can store that many text, but they arent in a chat type session, thats why it takes so long because it loads all of them in one hit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Even with Thread mode off and normal SMS display, it is very slow. Try restoring 200 SMS, it will takes 10 mins. Re-access your SMS menu, you will still lag as hell.
Cannot forgive them for making such a mistake.

was going to get it today
My non HTC device loaded with + 250 messages opens the SMS app.in 2 sec. Replying and bringing up the keyboard is almost from instantaneous to 1 sec,but I need to get a WM phone.
Just one question though:
Will this lag still happen if you Disable the HTC Sence UI and went with the WM 6.5 interface?

I've found a workaround for now..
Use the HTC Messaging app in traditional mode. From there, you could reply SMSes using the non-threaded mode. Once it loads, it's pretty quick to open again.
Still..the major lag is still there when you open a contact with many text messages....this is very dissapointing and could even be a dealbreaker for a few people.
Even my TD1 with Manila 2.1 doesn't have this problem.

hagba said:
Will this lag still happen if you Disable the HTC Sence UI and went with the WM 6.5 interface?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
NO! the problem it's just in senseUI

In the meantime, let your providers and htc know (mail). htc need to release a proper fix for this.

Manila 2.1 on my TP2 did`t have this problem at all.
To be honest .... 2.5 Manila messaging is crap!

I know this isn't an ideal solution, but it'll do for me (for now), and I'm sure some others will be happy enough with it as a temporary fix.
Use Microsoft MyPhone to get all your texts uploaded and then archive them using the web interface. You can then delete as many as you like off the phone and still be happy that you've got a backup online.
Not a solution, but a reasonable workround for now.
Edit: I can confirm that this works. I went to the MyPhone web interface and archived all my text messages. Then I synched from my mobile and it deleted all the local texts that I had archived (in this case, all of them). I can now edit and select contacts with only a slight lag. It's still a crap amount of lag for such a fast phone, but it's a lot better.

They should do like on the iPhone: when you chat with a contact, you get the last 10-15 messages of the thread. If you want to read older messages you press a button on top of the thread that will then show all the others.

+1!! I do think too that it's the obvious solution!!!! Why the hello do HTC's SMS apps display the full thread of SMS's on their app, it's pretty much useless, and causes lags!!! The last 10 sms's like in Outlokk or on the iPhone is enough!
I don't know what the hell HTC's devs are thinking sometimes....

Text message help

How do I only save certain amount of text on my phone? Say I would only like to keep the most recent 20 text messages for all the people on my contact list.
I found my phone tend to freeze when I try to reply to a txt when there's a lot of previous txt saved.
Thanks.

Hi, I don't believe that there is no way to set a threshold like you need automatically. I'm not always right though . The "freeze" effect is a known result of design features added by HTC to give you a more enjoyable user experience (hey, some users couldn't send texts properly for ages when this device first came out). Some of us use Microsoft Myphone to backup our texts and frequently delete locally stored texts to reduce the impact of the freeze effect that you have. I'm guessing that the more people that report this issue to HTC the more chance we have of them releasing a change (or admitting its a bug and releasing a fix).
Regards.

there is an app called sms purger http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=549764
it lets you pick a date to delete all texts from there and before.
but so far since getting the hd2 ive just been deleting all texts from a person when it hits about 30 texts with them as ive had the freezing become a big issue

Threaded SMS + Swype + Over 200 Total Messages = WTF

1) Why is there a relationship between number stored text messages and delay time between when phone first lights up until I am unable to unlock the phone and read my message? It seems sometimes when I have even 200+ messages stored, my phone will light up indicating a text is being received, but will "freeze" until it has (what seems to be) re-loaded every text stored. Only then, allowing me to access my new text message. So fukcing frustrating...it has to be Sense related.
- No, turning off Sense does not fix the problem either. I'm stock ROM (2nd to latest ROM upgraded)
2) Why does Swype, in threaded mode, insist on having every message load prior to being able to use it? Again, if a contact has 200+ messages in their thread, the phone is useless until all messages have loaded...
I enjoy using the threaded view, because I'm often referring back to previous text messages in my conversations. I can avert the Swype loading by using traditional mode. As of right now, it's either Swype + traditional or no Swype + threaded. I shouldn't feel I should have to choose, am I right?
I realize I can just delete my messages every 200+ that occur, but I reach that in a couple of days. Deleting takes too long too and going through SMS Backup is a too much of a pain if it's not for 1000+ texts.
I know this is cache/memory related. I wish there was a way to transfer the texts from phone storage to SD storage. I'm running a Class 6 too, so I don't think I can attribute slow processing speeds to the card either.
Thanks in advance. I realize this is MOST likely a repeated question. But I feel I haven't been able to arrive to a just answer from searching.

yep, its an ooold problem with no specific fix other than don't save more than 100 or so txts.
tried the latest rom?

I find that using a custom ROM has pretty much fixed the problem of HTC messageing freezing like that for me. I constantly have 1000+ texts in 3-4 threads, and have minimal wait times for messageing to open and let me reply.

Try using the latest TMO USA stock ROM. This ROM seems to have completely eliminated any problems with the HTC messaging app.
I have twitter send tweets from certain users as txt messages to my phone. The thread for twitter has reached over 1000 messages on a couple of occasions with this new ROM without causing significant lag like the previous stock ROM used to

swype is crap I notice that was the problem why my sms app would slow app...I use the regular keyboard and I have over 300 messages with one contact and its still not slowing up, and on top of that I notice I type faster with the regular keyboard....first time I used the keyboard since i got the phone back in june

I recommend a rom without HTC messaging. HTC messaging is still slow wether its stock rom or custom. Why they decided to uber up WinMo SMS I will never know.

[Q] App to Trim Very Long SMS Thread?

I've currently got about 18,000 texts on my phone going back about 5 years.
This is intentional as I like to occasionally search old texts for specific information, but there is one very long thread (to my girlfriend!) that must have several thousand messages on it alone.
I've read that Android doesn't like massive amounts of SMS's and this can cause the phone to massively slow down, which it has more & more over the past month or so, to the point that there may be a delay of several seconds before I can type on my girlfriend's thread (but the other threads seem ok).
I've got a complete backup of all my SMS's on my PC (via My Backup Pro) so I'm looking for a decent app that can help me trim my text history by date, e.g. I'd like to delete any text older than 1 year etc..
Any ideas or apps to suggest?

Someone must have an idea or know of an app to help me?