Why I left android after 10 years, has this issue been fixed? - Essential Phone Questions & Answers

Hey guys,
Its been a bit since I used an android phone. I was an avid power user for nearly a decade (2009)! When I hacked my way onto it using my HTC diamond.
So, reason why I left was MMS and SMS specifically group SMS was always having issues for me and continued on the essential phone.
I heard about RCS, so has that fixed issues in group messaging and photo/video for when you are connecting with iPhone users?

Has what been fixed? You said issues but didn't define them.
Plus consider iMessage is a proprietary messaging protocol exclusive to Apple. RCS replicates many of the features as iMessage, but RCS is still a mess. Each carrier needs to implement RCS on their network, but many carriers are implementing their own proprietary versions of RCS, making compatibility a mess. Plus the messaging app on the phone needs to support not just RCS, but each implementation of it.
Lots of information and discussion on www.reddit.com/r/universalprofile including a spreadsheet outlining each carriers with RCS support and what not.

the issue was pictures, gifs, videos messaged from/to others using iPhone would never reach or take like a day to reach. has that been fixed? Also, group messaging on android was always horrible, has RCS kinda fixed this, since it has been rolled out to all users in the US.

ninten5 said:
the issue was pictures, gifs, videos messaged from/to others using iPhone would never reach or take like a day to reach. has that been fixed? Also, group messaging on android was always horrible, has RCS kinda fixed this, since it has been rolled out to all users in the US.
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Those are not Android problems. They're carrier problems. Group messaging is MMS, pictures and gifs are MMS. Texting is SMS. Both SMS and MMS are standardized protocols for all phones. They're also very old and outdated.
Apple made iMessage to be a better alternative but didn't open it for non-iOS devices. So you get broken systems because they don't know how to communicate together. And issues with SMS and MMS is an issue with the carrier or tower. The phones all use the same protocols.
RCS is basically iMessage but Apple hasn't built-in support yet and we don't know if they will. So Android to iOS will still be based on SMS and MMS. And because carriers aren't all on board with RCS, it's also kind of a mess. Like I said before.

Ah thanks for answering my question. I guess, even after 10 years, I still can’t communicate properly with my majority iPhone family/friends....sad. I had high hopes with RCS, but I can’t hamper my communication abilities just to stay on android , welp I guess iPhone it is for me.

ninten5 said:
Ah thanks for answering my question. I guess, even after 10 years, I still can’t communicate properly with my majority iPhone family/friends....sad. I had high hopes with RCS, but I can’t hamper my communication abilities just to stay on android , welp I guess iPhone it is for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are aware that you need to unregister your phone number with iMessage before switching to Android, right? It messes with communication.
I text without issues to many iPhone users and I'm not the only one. My point was that it's not an Android issue. It's a bit more complicated than that, but there would be some serious issues if Android and iPhone users couldn't communicate with each other effectively. What I was trying to suggest was if you can't send SMS texts properly to iPhone users, you should be calling whoever your phone carrier is asking WTF. Because if it was simply broken for all Android devices to text iPhones, no one would find that acceptable.

Yeah it's still a mess.
I wind up using messenger or Snapchat anyways though now so not as big a deal.

BS no issues using off 1 with Android 10.
Sent from my PH-1 using XDA Labs

Related

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.

Google voice....biggest let down!!!!

i am hurting so badly right now at the concept of not being able to get google voice on this.
UNBELIEVABLE..this is just horrible. And i trully believe they wont make a native app for it..like a tablet version as verizon has said this is not capable of text messages.
UPDATE: EVERYONE i created a official google forum request for this amazing app to be used. PLEASE JOIN and voice you opinion on it being needed, WE WILL GET AN ANSWER!!!
thread with google forum is here! Cheers!
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=978779
Set the texts to go to email. You can respond via email as well.
I still cannot convert completely to Google Voice as you cannot get picture messages.
Yea you can get your texts, but where do your friends send you a pic to?
Bielinsk said:
I still cannot convert completely to Google Voice as you cannot get picture messages.
Yea you can get your texts, but where do your friends send you a pic to?
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Click to collapse
I know it sucks but for now have them send MMS to email.
picture mms
heres the thing, i ported my number, saved a boat load of money, managed to have all my friends send me pictures through gmail. its more conveneint anyways.
all in all google voice is amanzing and i heavily use it, if you read up on all it can do (and ..its ALOT)
i refuse to believe this is happening and google cant utilize its tablet market..it would be suuuuch a win. also i do believe mms will happen eventually as this is the last year that their service is considered...free...so hmmm
jesus i need a xoom google voice app, and a crack rock
Have you tried side loading the Google voice app? If so does it just FC when you try to open it?
Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk
scuccia said:
Have you tried side loading the Google voice app? If so does it just FC when you try to open it?
Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes and yes. No worky.
i tried going off my app purchas history doesnt work
You could always do the e-mail thing, and create a new gmail specifically for the texts. IE. [email protected] or w/e, then you can have pictures sent there, and you can use the gmail widget basically as a text app, since you're e-mailing you're texts back you should be able to send mms right through the e-mail, then you really don't have to worry about having a voice app, and got a cool widget for your texts.
I might do that now that i think about it.
I am mad about the lack of Xoom support also, but where theirs a will, there is a way.
raddude, smart move but i dont think i have the stomach for another email addy. im so in tune with texting via computer off my google voice and how smooth it is from there to my nexus. i want to say i believe in google and see some how..some way..a jump over verizon's limitations on this but i dont know
Your world sure comes crashing down around you a lot. You should get some medication.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA Premium App
hahahahah i know i love going all bi polar when something doesnt go my way, helps gain views/responses...would be wierd if i was like google voice/whatever
haha
Ok, so I'm a little confused by this post. Is there some indication out that there there will NEVER be a google voice app for tablets/xoom? If so, where is the documentation supporting this?
I assume (and maybe incorrectly) that a google voice app on the xoom is just a matter of time (like flash and enabling the SD slot), not any direct statement made by google.
Does anyone have any concrete information of either scenario?
powercrazy said:
Ok, so I'm a little confused by this post. Is there some indication out that there there will NEVER be a google voice app for tablets/xoom? If so, where is the documentation supporting this?
I assume (and maybe incorrectly) that a google voice app on the xoom is just a matter of time (like flash and enabling the SD slot), not any direct statement made by google.
Does anyone have any concrete information of either scenario?
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Click to collapse
I don't believe so. I think people are just "OMG PANIC!" because not everything is exactly how they want it on a release day.
Patience truly is a virtue.
Just to add idle speculation into the fire, i am almost positive that we will get the iPad treatment vis a vis Google Voice. Meaning they need to get a version of the app going for android that does not integrate with a dialer.
I would love to have a voip option or something, but VZ and all US Carriers do not want us to use our devices as phones, they want us to have 2 lines with them! Galaxy Tab, which in the rest of the world is effectively a giant Galaxy S with dialer, etc, on all US carriers has had its calling disabled (of course since its froyo it was easy for at least the tmo ones to get the feature back).
This is not a Google issue, but rather one of the carriers not wanting us to not pay them for our minutes.
I think some folks might also be getting confused with the following Verizon statements quoting Verizon as saying the receiving or sending of SMS or MMS won't be supported by Verizon on this device.
I just interpret that as meaning that Verizon will not let the device natively receive and send SMS/MMS like a regular cell phone or provide phone apps to do this. Because GV does SMS/MMS via data and not through the normal SMS/MMS mechanism I would assume that Verizon's statement doesn't exclude the potential for GV on the device at all...
diaa08 said:
Just to add idle speculation into the fire, i am almost positive that we will get the iPad treatment vis a vis Google Voice. Meaning they need to get a version of the app going for android that does not integrate with a dialer.
I would love to have a voip option or something, but VZ and all US Carriers do not want us to use our devices as phones, they want us to have 2 lines with them! Galaxy Tab, which in the rest of the world is effectively a giant Galaxy S with dialer, etc, on all US carriers has had its calling disabled (of course since its froyo it was easy for at least the tmo ones to get the feature back).
This is not a Google issue, but rather one of the carriers not wanting us to not pay them for our minutes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Except Skype works on 3g and Wifi on the xoom

[Q] Group MMS via stock SMS app issues

So I've got a few friends who use iPhones as well as Android phones and they like to all talk via group text. I wasn't a huge fan myself but I've finally decided to go this route and it's growing on me.
Now here is the issue. When I'm sending one on one to anyone, I've never had a single problem in my house. Service is decent (2-3 bars) but again, no problems. When I'm doing group text (converted to MMS), many times it will just sit there with the little blue circle going round and round. Sometimes it will go through, other times (about 20%) it won't. I've got reception the entire time... but it just sits there doing nothing. Usually I end up copying the text (no attachments either btw), delete the message, then paste and re-send and then voila! - it works.
Any ideas what might be going on? As you can see in my sig, I'm only rooted with CWM, that's it. Is there maybe a better SMS app that would work better with this type of heavy use? I had GO SMS for a bit but honestly I'm not a fan anymore.
Also, is there maybe a way to NOT keep converting every message to MMS because I'm thinking that clearly is part of the issue here. Would love to just keep them as SMS but I fear that group messaging simply won't function that way.
Kadin said:
So I've got a few friends who use iPhones as well as Android phones and they like to all talk via group text. I wasn't a huge fan myself but I've finally decided to go this route and it's growing on me.
Now here is the issue. When I'm sending one on one to anyone, I've never had a single problem in my house. Service is decent (2-3 bars) but again, no problems. When I'm doing group text (converted to MMS), many times it will just sit there with the little blue circle going round and round. Sometimes it will go through, other times (about 20%) it won't. I've got reception the entire time... but it just sits there doing nothing. Usually I end up copying the text (no attachments either btw), delete the message, then paste and re-send and then voila! - it works.
Any ideas what might be going on? As you can see in my sig, I'm only rooted with CWM, that's it. Is there maybe a better SMS app that would work better with this type of heavy use? I had GO SMS for a bit but honestly I'm not a fan anymore.
Also, is there maybe a way to NOT keep converting every message to MMS because I'm thinking that clearly is part of the issue here. Would love to just keep them as SMS but I fear that group messaging simply won't function that way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you taken the OTA? I'm just wondering as the stock app works great for me. Go sucks because of all the add ons they added last year.
No, because Group MMS is an MMS. It is not an SMS.
Stock rom for me in the texting app was always slow to me and I had issues... I also do HEAVY group chats (2 or 3 groups) throughout the day. Best I found so far is the AOSP Messaging app. (SMS app included in CM10.1 and all AOSP Roms). Theres a port of it for Touchwiz but it doesn't work right when receiving group text from iPhone currently for some reason.
thacounty said:
Have you taken the OTA? I'm just wondering as the stock app works great for me. Go sucks because of all the add ons they added last year.
No, because Group MMS is an MMS. It is not an SMS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I just got my phone last week and it had the latest software on it. And yeah I kinda figured about the MMS, thanks!
WoodburyMan said:
Stock rom for me in the texting app was always slow to me and I had issues... I also do HEAVY group chats (2 or 3 groups) throughout the day. Best I found so far is the AOSP Messaging app. (SMS app included in CM10.1 and all AOSP Roms). Theres a port of it for Touchwiz but it doesn't work right when receiving group text from iPhone currently for some reason.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hmmm... I'll keep digging around.
Thanks guys!

[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.

Switched from iphone now cant receive Imessages from other users

I just switched from iphone to nexus 4 and am on straight talk now.
I cant seem to get text from iphone unless my friends go in manually and change my contact info to send as sms and not as imessage. Needless to say thats alot of contacts to have change. I called apple support and they took my number off the imessage servers which is what i thought would work. Needless to say it still doesnt seem to work. They can receive my messages but i cant receive theirs. Does anyone have expeirce with this? Any ideas?
You aren't on iMessage anymore. It's proprietary. They'll need to switch to SMS when texting you. Sorry.
I never had an apple device so I'm not too sure about this, but maybe you can disable it somewhere in the settings of your apple id?
Edit:
If found some information on the apple support forums: https://discussions.apple.com/message/22436272#22436272
I would think it makes sense. Why would your nexus work with an I app. Daughter has iPhone 5. She text me just fine
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
newtonfb said:
I just switched from iphone to nexus 4 and am on straight talk now.
I cant seem to get text from iphone unless my friends go in manually and change my contact info to send as sms and not as imessage. Needless to say thats alot of contacts to have change. I called apple support and they took my number off the imessage servers which is what i thought would work. Needless to say it still doesnt seem to work. They can receive my messages but i cant receive theirs. Does anyone have expeirce with this? Any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately, this is an issue with Apple. Slow process is to remove the device from your apple account. I forgot the link.
How I resolved it was by activating my account with an iPhone and changed the settings in messages to only send by sms, so it doesn't use iMessage anymore.
This resolved everything.
AdriVelazquez said:
Unfortunately, this is an issue with Apple. Slow process is to remove the device from your apple account. I forgot the link.
How I resolved it was by activating my account with an iPhone and changed the settings in messages to only send by sms, so it doesn't use iMessage anymore.
This resolved everything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
oh k cool! glad you worked it out.

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