Database Users

Handscent Android group chat like iPhone

Well here it is my fellow androids. We asked for it and Handcent fell through. We should all thank Handcent and their developers for this new big update. Keep in mind this app is still in Beta stage. However, I tested it for a couple of days and I was able to chat with my fellow iPhone lovers. I was also able to chat with verizon Galaxy Nexus, Thunderbolt and LG revolution. I havent had a chance to chat with none Verizon phones. You guys will be our testers. Please list all bugs here and Ill forward the list to the developer. So far there are two bugs with this build. The first bug is double notifications on group mms and the second one is blurry background images with Droid Razor phones
Setup:
1. You must make this app default messaging app for all MMS and SMS.
"settings"->application settings->Default Messaging Application-> All(SMS&MMS)
2. You must enable Thread Group Conversation. Its all the way down in application settings
"settings"->application settings->group messaging->check Thread Group conversation
3. MMS retrieval should be set to Auto unless you want to download each group message.
4. You might experience some lag as the group mms pour in one after another. I think this is normal cuz I do experience it on my Razor maxx using the stock app since it has this this feature built in. In addition, I asked my freind with iPhone 4s if he experiences lag when all these group messages pour in and he said yes. Sometimes he cant touch his phone until all the messages have been received
5. Be gentle on me if I missed any bugs. Im already in the Dog house in my wifes book for spending too much time on this project. This is the reason why the developer is releasing the app for public feedback.
File got updated:
Fixed double notification
fixed some bugs
This file not in market, so you guys are Handcent beta testers.
http://www.mediafire.com/file/6yz8r9rbrec9c85/hc_sms.apk

Loving the capability! It seems to be working well.
Have one question/bug. Some replies say "Me:" and they go to the group. Some replies say "Me to name: and they are going individually to the group it appears.
I did not do anything different I don't think on any of the replies but I may be missing something or this could be a bug.
Thanks for the great feature!

tgrgrd00 said:
Loving the capability! It seems to be working well.
Have one question/bug. Some replies say "Me:" and they go to the group. Some replies say "Me to name: and they are going individually to the group it appears.
I did not do anything different I don't think on any of the replies but I may be missing something or this could be a bug.
Thanks for the great feature!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What phone are you using? Can you send a screen shot. In other words when you reply to message, you are replying to yourself also? I had that at first was fixed. I wonder if each phone will have that bug
Sent from my DROID RAZR using xda premium

trikotret said:
What phone are you using? Can you send a screen shot. In other words when you reply to message, you are replying to yourself also? I had that at first was fixed. I wonder if each phone will have that bug
Sent from my DROID RAZR using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am using the OG EVO. I will send you a PM with a screenshot.

tgrgrd00 said:
I am using the OG EVO. I will send you a PM with a screenshot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go ahead send the screen shot and tonight ill email the developer. Unfortunately we didn't get a chance to test on none Verizon phones but I'm sure it's a quick fix.
Sent from my DROID RAZR using xda premium

so testing it with cm9 on HTC evo 3D (sprint) doesn't seem to want to send group messages at all. Just get that continuous loading symbol and never sends. I'll test it on stock first and see if it is the problem with the rom and report back

tgrgrd00 said:
Loving the capability! It seems to be working well.
Have one question/bug. Some replies say "Me:" and they go to the group. Some replies say "Me to name: and they are going individually to the group it appears.
I did not do anything different I don't think on any of the replies but I may be missing something or this could be a bug.
Thanks for the great feature!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm also experiencing this, Droid Charge on Gingerbread.

so i tested this out and it seems to work somewhat on stock rom, has trouble with cm9 it seems. big problem is i have to always manually download the mms to make it show up on the thread.

fsalazar504 said:
so i tested this out and it seems to work somewhat on stock rom, has trouble with cm9 it seems. big problem is i have to always manually download the mms to make it show up on the thread.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you have mms setup as auto retrieve?
Sent from my DROID RAZR using xda premium

tgrgrd00 said:
Loving the capability! It seems to be working well.
Have one question/bug. Some replies say "Me:" and they go to the group. Some replies say "Me to name: and they are going individually to the group it appears.
I did not do anything different I don't think on any of the replies but I may be missing something or this could be a bug.
Thanks for the great feature!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The file has been update. Hopefully fix your issue.

So far I have had it "break" and resort to sending separate messages once. I have three theories as to why...
It may have been due to not completely removing my old Handcent beta first.
I was Texting with friends pretty frequently, and I noticed if I exit the thread and re-enter it would "convert to MMS", Maybe it drops out of MMS if you send several texts in a row?
The thread I was sending to had my google voice number in it, so I was essentially sending messages to myself at the same time.
Sometimes if you have a group message with say Joe Smith as a participant and a separate thread with Joe, getting the group text will show a notification for the separate thread and you have to do "mark as read" to fix it.
I am on a HTC Thunderbolt BTW.
Did not try the updated file yet, downloading now.

Morkai Almandragon said:
So far I have had it "break" and resort to sending separate messages once. I have three theories as to why...
It may have been due to not completely removing my old Handcent beta first.
I was Texting with friends pretty frequently, and I noticed if I exit the thread and re-enter it would "convert to MMS", Maybe it drops out of MMS if you send several texts in a row?
The thread I was sending to had my google voice number in it, so I was essentially sending messages to myself at the same time.
Sometimes if you have a group message with say Joe Smith as a participant and a separate thread with Joe, getting the group text will show a notification for the separate thread and you have to do "mark as read" to fix it.
I am on a HTC Thunderbolt BTW.
Did not try the updated file yet, downloading now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think the new file supposed to fix this since they did find a bug. please post your results after you install new file

It works well for me.
Is there anything I can do about the <Subject: New Message> that shows up before every message?

bauerknight said:
It works well for me.
Is there anything I can do about the <Subject: New Message> that shows up before every message?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I asked the developer about it. I did a test and sent a screen shot. I really love public Beta

trikotret said:
I think the new file supposed to fix this since they did find a bug. please post your results after you install new file
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have not had the issue where the group message sends separate again, but this one is still happening...
Sometimes if you have a group message with say Joe Smith as a participant and a separate thread with Joe, getting the group text will show a notification for the separate thread and you have to do "mark as read" to fix it.

An issue happens when you send texts too quickly it sends you back to inbox and doesn't display the messages. From what my friends tell me it displays something weird in their group chat. I have to visually see it to confirm. Love that it actually works though
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA

fsalazar504 said:
An issue happens when you send texts too quickly it sends you back to inbox and doesn't display the messages. From what my friends tell me it displays something weird in their group chat. I have to visually see it to confirm. Love that it actually works though
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
can you send me a screen shot please and Ill forward to developer.

How is it supposed to work? I tried it with my friend who has an iPhone but it didn't send messages via Internet service but normaly as SMS messages. Friend with iPhone tried to pull his sim card out of phone with no succes. Does it need any special settings to make it work?
Anyway I don't care much cause I have all my SMS free I just wanted to try that function.
I use HC Talk service to chat with my girlfriend everyday so there's no problem about functionless HC Service

loqan said:
How is it supposed to work? I tried it with my friend who has an iPhone but it didn't send messages via Internet service but normaly as SMS messages. Friend with iPhone tried to pull his sim card out of phone with no succes. Does it need any special settings to make it work?
Anyway I don't care much cause I have all my SMS free I just wanted to try that function.
I use HC Talk service to chat with my girlfriend everyday so there's no problem about functionless HC Service
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In the first post is suggests going to settings>application settings>default messaging application>set it to all sms and mms.
Then settings again>application settings>scroll all the way down>check the thread group conversation box.
Then should work
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA

trikotret said:
can you send me a screen shot please and Ill forward to developer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok I'll try and get one
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA

Permanent resolution for Group Texting? Tried it all..

So I bounce between my HD2 (Group Textings on OS works nearly perfect, just a little delay.) and my G2. I recently went back to my G2 due to options for apps. Ive tried Handcent & Go SMS..but they fall so short and have bugs/doesnt work.
Most my friends have iPhones & I still resist. Any permanent 'fixes' or options ive overlooked?

what is your problem with group texting? i cant think of a single rom that the default messaging app didnt support it. even dating back to the ol g1 days. maybe we have different ideas on how group texting should work...

demkantor said:
what is your problem with group texting? i cant think of a single rom that the default messaging app didnt support it. even dating back to the ol g1 days. maybe we have different ideas on how group texting should work...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If someone includes me in a group text that hes say 5 different iphone #'s in it..If I respond it only gets sent to the original sender, and if I recieve 4 respones from 4 different reciepients itll be 4 individual texts "threads" besides the original one.
Am I missing something?

That's how every group message I've ever used worked. Unless some apps have a way to change that.
Sent from my EVO 3D, using TapaTalk 2.

I too have had this problem. I have settled on handcent. It is not perfect but it gets the job done. When I was doing my research some people were having luck with the verizon messaging app......
HammDroid - True group messaging performs more like a group chat. When the message comes through you can see sender and the other recipients of the message. When you reply it gets sent to the group. I believe it has become more popular due to iphone usage...

LG G2 Messaging App

Does the LG G2 messaging app lag a little bit? Does it take a second or two to open messaging threads?
The phone is really fast but does the LG Messaging app seem a bit sluggish?
Thanks.

Yep, that's the way it is. That's one of the only small complaints that I have about the phone. Maybe and hopefully it will be fixed by LG or a dev.
Sent from my LG-D800 using xda premium

I agree with both of you. It doesn't lag, especially when opening up a specific thread. My main reason for not changing it is that I like the quick reply feature, or whatever weird marketing name they decided to give it. I like being able to reply straight onto the notification.
No one has really even mentioned that in any of the reviews.. Actionable notifications are a big deal, I think.

I own the LG Pro and the LG Messaging is also slow to open threads. Unfortunately it has yet to be resolved and strictly limited to LG Messaging app.
I'll be getting the G2 in October when I am eligible to upgrade. Thanks for the feedback.
Sent from my LG-E980 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

alias3800 said:
I agree with both of you. It doesn't lag, especially when opening up a specific thread. My main reason for not changing it is that I like the quick reply feature, or whatever weird marketing name they decided to give it. I like being able to reply straight onto the notification.
No one has really even mentioned that in any of the reviews.. Actionable notifications are a big deal, I think.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is part of 4.3.... Had CM10 running on my Gnex. I would much prefer the stock messaging app.

I have noticed this as well. Odd, since it wasn't that way on the G Pro. Add to that the omission of group messaging.
I don't want to use a different app, either. The stock app lets you send videos as MMS (no matter the size) and I like having that functionality. And I may be alone in this, but I like the taskbar popup for new messages.

Noticing the same in my G2.
anybody with kitkat update can tell if it is fixed???

I am on AT&T. Cannot send or receive pictures through standard texting which was working good before kitkat update. Message app lagging too

Sprint considers your message app has problem only if you are unable to send or receive text messages and displaying error codes or network messages when you try to send a text message. But if your app only lags, it's just part of it. Live with it.

Solved
Gulfcoastowl said:
I am on AT&T. Cannot send or receive pictures through standard texting which was working good before kitkat update. Message app lagging too
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AT&T customer representative did solve the issue. She changed the service number and she told me she changed some provisional settings on her end...Finally it worked. I am now able to send and receive picture messages.

[Q] Group message sent but individual responses returned?

Every time I send a group message that includes one of my friends, his messages always get sent back to me individually rather than as part of the group thread like all the others. Does anyone know why this may be? I'm fairly certain he's the only one that I have this problem with, though everyone else I've group messaged in recent memory was using an iPhone (though I'm pretty sure I had no problems with other androids in the past). He's also using a S4, but on Verizon. His messages still are listed as a MMS on my end (it's the only thing that tells me that he responded to the group rather than just me), and I believe the iPhone user in the threat is receiving his messages as a group just fine, but I'm still getting this issue. Additionally, I do not have this problem when my brother is in a group thread and he is using a S4 on Sprint. Is there some setting I can change to correct this, or is the problem on his end? If it is him, do you have any suggestions for what he may be able to change? We're both using the stock messaging app. It's really annoying because it often causes me to accidentally reply to just him rather than the whole group.

are you sure he isn't selecting to do a individual reply?

jmarrale said:
are you sure he isn't selecting to do a individual reply?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just updated the post, sorry for not being specific earlier. I'm pretty sure because it comes in as a MMS and I think the guy in the chat with an iPhone receives them as a group just fine. Turns out my friend with an S3 also responds individually and not as an MMS, so I guess it's dependent on the sender, but since I know this guy has an S4 and I know that his phone supports this feature (because I know the S3 does not), I don't understand why this is happening.

iPhone MMS not appearing on Messages but they show fine on Google Hangouts... WTH?!?

This one has me scratching my head looking for answers. I noticed this problem a while ago where my friends MMS sent from iPhones were not appearing on my Messages, I have the option for "fetch MMS automatically" and all I get is the little cloud but its blank, it only shows the time it was received, I've also tried disabling the fetch MMS automatically and even when downloading them it shows me the blank cloud. The doozy comes when I tried using Hangouts just to see what it was and to my surprise I could see all my SMS and MMS conversations from my contacts and all the pictures from the iPhone contacts were shown via Hangouts but they do not show on the stock Messages app.
Things I've tried:
1) Googling for answers only resulted in fanboyism comments and speculations that led to more fanboyism.
2) At first I tried contacting my carrier and they made me reset the APN settings to default, which I did and it was after that that I realized that it was only the iPhone MMS messages that weren't being received.
3) Tried disabling the Hangouts services via the Apps option on the settings menu. Restarted phone and still wouldn't work.
4) Been restarting my phone with each setting I change to see if it helps but no.
5) Been bugging my friends to send me MMS from their iPhones and one did get through but nothing more after that.
6) Made sure their iPhones had the setting of "Send MMS when iChat isn't available" enabled.
7) Made sure my old iPhone account was signed out of my old iPhone 4 so I wasn't receiving anymore iMessages.
I'm speculating that I either need to call my carrier again which is Claro PR and explain the situation to see if it helps, or maybe go to a store. Also, I've been thinking about Rooting my phone so I can uninstall some of the bloat, which included Hangouts but don't want to go down that path yet and I don't know if it would really help anything since I already tried disabling the service via the Apps options.
Please help me figure this out, I love this phone but this thing is bugging the hell out of me.

I have had problems with mms on hangouts and the stock app on Sprint doesn't support group mms. I have been using Go sms pro and everything works fine, including iPhone mms messages.
Hope that helps.
Sent from my Sprint LG G2.

p2cactus said:
I have had problems with mms on hangouts and the stock app on Sprint doesn't support group mms. I have been using Go sms pro and everything works fine, including iPhone mms messages.
Hope that helps.
Sent from my Sprint LG G2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm... interesting a replacement messaging app, I would definitely keep this in mind so thanks a lot for the suggestion. I rather use the stock apps while I'm getting used to the phone since this is my first Android device but will definitely use this if resetting to factory defaults doesn't help my problem.
*Edit*
Any other suggestions for my problem are welcomed.

LG didn't enable MMS group messaging on stock messages. My HTC One and S4 had the option in settings to enable it...LG left it out. If you haven't heard, TEXTRA is one of the best, fastest, light weight messaging apps that can handle iPhone group messages without the bloat on go sms and handcent. Look it up on the playstore...ratings are great and all my Android friends use it now. I've yet ran into any issues with group texting.
Sent from my JEE TWO

SKyRocKeting727 said:
LG didn't enable MMS group messaging on stock messages. My HTC One and S4 had the option in settings to enable it...LG left it out. If you haven't heard, TEXTRA is one of the best, fastest, light weight messaging apps that can handle iPhone group messages without the bloat on go sms and handcent. Look it up on the playstore...ratings are great and all my Android friends use it now. I've yet ran into any issues with group texting.
Sent from my JEE TWO
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi and thanks for the reply, I've looked up Textra and seems like a nice alternative and has a very clean interface, I'm currently using Hangouts from Google without a problem but would have preferred the stock message app. It's weird because I went to my carrier and they did some test and everything was fine, turns out its only MMS sent from iPhones that won't show through the Message app from G2. Maybe I should try emailing them to see if I can get some answers?

Yea only the Verizon variant supports group messages. I posted a thread about this in the Themes and Apps forum. Could be the cause.
All my friends group text me all the time and send MMS using the Verizon version Messaging app and hangouts. The stock messaging app world best though.
Sent from my VS980 4G using XDA Premium 4 mobile app