Quick Question.... about TXT messaging - EVO 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

WHy are text messages capped at 160 Characters?
whats the reasoning behind it? is it the maximum size that can be sent via a special radio signal? ive been wondering this ever since I had my blackberry storm... many moons ago

yep, cdma limitation

Came across this in another thread:
"Transmission of the short messages between SMSC and phone can be done through different protocols such as SS7 within the standard GSM MAP framework or TCP/IP within the same standard. Messages are sent with the additional MAP operation forward_short_message, whose payload length is limited by the constraints of the signalling protocol to precisely 140 bytes (140 bytes = 140 * 8 bits = 1120 bits). In practice, this translates to either 160 7-bit characters, 140 8-bit characters, or 70 16-bit characters. Characters in languages such as Arabic, Chinese, Korean, Japanese or Slavonic languages (e.g. Russian) must be encoded using the 16-bit UCS-2 character encoding (see Unicode). Routing data and other metadata is additional to the payload size."

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2009/05/invented-text-messaging.html
Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

bwcorvus said:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2009/05/invented-text-messaging.html
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was looking for this article a few days ago - someone at work had the same question and I knew I had read it straight from the inventor's mouth somewhere. Thanks!

thanks
yea.. i wonder if theres going to be a day when you can send more characters than just 160.. cmon.. all the technology that we have and only 160 Character Text??

Why are you writing a book and txting it..
I can barely read a sentence when I get txts, any larger than that and Im annoyed..
Sent from my SPH-P100 using Tapatalk

upperkingjr said:
Why are you writing a book and txting it..
I can barely read a sentence when I get txts, any larger than that and Im annoyed..
Sent from my SPH-P100 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I find it less of an interruption to send SMS. Many people don't like it, especially older people. Probably because they don't understand how to use it. Email, SMS and phone call all have their place.
There are times and places that I can't answer the phone. A text is sending the information or question that can be answered sometimes at the recipient's leisure or calling them to ask one question is a waste of effort. Also, going through the trouble of calling voicemail or listening to is can be too distracting depending on where you are. SMS is great if you're in a place that you have to have the phone completely silent, yet can still communicate.
Many times people are busy and can't talk on the phone. Okay, so I just called you and you said you couldn't talk. I have to call again to leave a voicemail. I just disturbed you twice just to ask or tell you something.
Email is good too for long ones but most people check it on a computer and there's no telling when that might be. SMS goes right through.

Related

Sending 2 Text messages when under 160 chars!

I have noticed a problem with my Blueangel, when writing a text message it tell me in the bottom left corner that it will be two messages, even when the counter is less than the 160 character limit.. I didn't think anything of it, and presumed it was just a bug in the counter, but I've now recieved my bill from O2, and the phone has indeed been sending 2 messages!
Anyone know a solution to this?
I'm using Rom 1.40 with Radio 1.10
Cheers
messaging>tools>options>accounts>text message>uncheck unicode when necessary...
Yup
Yup mine did/does it too. No idea why. It happens when you leave a ' (and other characters too but i forget which one's) character out of a word. So for example if you typed "youre" it would replce it with "you're" but the added ' reduces the max characters to 70.
I think it is something to do with the encoding microsoft is using for the character set. Obviously the autocorrect is using a character with longer encoding than it should be. (I'm studying character encoding for an exam as we speak! )
Anyway you can stop it doing it by going to Start -> Settings -> Input -> Word Completion and un-chcking the box "Replace text as you type".
Lewis
Actually guys,
This happens because of some character foreign character codes e.g. sometimes when doing an 'o' i get a 'oe' (but squashed together) ... those will cause the message to shorter. The same is also for using ` instead of '
Everytime I've encountered this I've just retyped it ... in actual fact, I'm using block recognizer because I'm an ex-Palm user and am now more familar with that so I rarely have these problems now.
.......
Vicer, I think you've got it bang on there!
messaging>tools>options>accounts>text message>uncheck unicode when necessary...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now I can't even reproduce it! Sweet as
JUST SEARCH, Just a few days ago i answered the same question!
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?p=115656&highlight=#115656
Thanks Vicer, that seems to have done the trick!
its much better to turn off autocorrect found in your input module than turn off the Unicode in sms ..
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?p=104479#104479
the bug is already been fix in WM5.0 but not in WM2003SE
Sorry to go off topic but since it's to do with different character sets, then I thought of asking my question here.
Does anybody know how to tweak pocket word (maybe registry) so that it can read a different character set i.e. Hebrew character set?

How to modify the registry in order to send more than 160 characters in SMS

Does anyone know what to add or remove or change in the registry to allow more than 160 characters on sending SMS ?
Thanks
this is a standard sms thing... you cant change how many characters to send in one message.. now you can type over 160 and your phone should display like 168/2 where the first number is characters and the 2nd number is how many sms' its going to send... and when it sends most newer phones will combine the 2 messages on the recieving device and it will display as 1
My O2 Xda Stealth shows as you described, however, it also gives me an error "Your Text Message cannot be sent". It works perfectly within 160 characteres (1/160) but as soon as you start with (2/320) shows the error when you hit SEND.
Any ideas ? Could you provide the Registry ?
Thanks
Maybe some restriction from your provider, I have O2 XDA Stealth too and I am sending longer messages without any problems...
Ok, thanks, let me go back an ask my Network provider to see if I have restriction.
shogunmark said:
this is a standard sms thing... you cant change how many characters to send in one message.. now you can type over 160 and your phone should display like 168/2 where the first number is characters and the 2nd number is how many sms' its going to send... and when it sends most newer phones will combine the 2 messages on the recieving device and it will display as 1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This issue was a nightmare for me until I realized how to overcome with continuous efforts. In my case I use the arabizer and thus, I can send 160 char. in one shot (english) but when I change to arabic, the number of char. turns to 1/70 (i.e. max of 70 char. per shot).
Now, that wasn't the case always, I upgraded to one of the latest arabizer versions and surprisingly, everytime I wanted to send english sms it only allowed 70 char! I had no time to dig and find out why is this happening, though I crossed check between older cab files and new ones and found that among the difference was that the new one had two fonts files those are "tahoma" and when installed, voila the problem was solved.
The moral is it is not a standard SMS thing, it is something with localization characters. May be
This is not the case. The question if you can send full 160 characters or only 70 characters depends on the fact wheather you use ASCII or UNICODE. In case of use Arabizer or some special national characters (same for us here in CZ), you can send only 70 characters per one message, but then you can continue and you can see i.e. 75/2 and the longer message will be sent by 2 parts. But he cannot send more than one message at all...
In my case was the Network. For some reason there was a limitation on sending SMS. Network customer service did not resolve my case, I surfed in Internet and found some tricks for GSM networks.
Bottom line I just write down the following ##004#[SEND] and then I received a message from the network "Success" or something like this (don't recall). But it was enough to be able to send more than 160 characters (obviously the system splitted it in "n" numbers of SMS when you submit it)
Hope it could also work with other peoples

[Q] Text Message Over 160 Chtrs?

did a quick search, but couldn't find an answer if its possible or not.
Is there any way to change the text message length to allow for more than 160 characters per message? I receive some messages from my airline and others that end up being broken up into pieces.
I believe the 160 limit is a limitation of CDMA
I wonder if you could crash their servers by sending more than the limit. lol! If you guys recall, you could once hack into anyones AIM account by typing a password longer than their limit. lol! So who knows. :-D But yeah, it is currently a limitation of CDMA. until these idiots update their networks, we are stuck with what they give us.
I wonder if you could crash their servers by sending more than the limit. lol!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Umm, no. When the network sees a text over 160, it automatically splits it.
until these idiots update their networks, we are stuck with what they give us.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Whats wrong with it? If it aint broke, dont fix it.

Group Texting

Is this only working when everyone uses Windows Phones?
Tried it today and the conversations weren't threaded at all. It basically put my outgoing in one thread and replies from people all in their own threads. It was impossible to follow the conversation.
Has anyone tried it?
Yes it have it set to use MMS for group texting and all the devices I was texting were Android and iPhone devices.
Edit: and yea, I'm 100% sure it wasn't using different protocols for different people, since they were sitting next to me when I tested it...
Also, replies from others in the group were only coming to me, which made it impossible for anyone else to follow the conversation.
Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk
N8ter said:
Is this only working when everyone uses Windows Phones?
Tried it today and the conversations weren't threaded at all. It basically put my outgoing in one thread and replies from people all in their own threads. It was impossible to follow the conversation.
Has anyone tried it?
Yes it have it set to use MMS for group texting and all the devices I was texting were Android and iPhone devices.
Edit: and yea, I'm 100% sure it wasn't using different protocols for different people, since they were sitting next to me when I tested it...
Also, replies from others in the group were only coming to me, which made it impossible for anyone else to follow the conversation.
Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did any of the iPhones have iMessage enabled? I know it reverts to SMS if the recipient does not support iMessage. I suspect for Group messaging, it will revert to MMS. I am wondering if there may be an issue if some are MMS and others are iMessage.
Also, with iPhone's the numbers of all recipients are visible to all recipients.
http://www.moxiemoshow.com/group-messaging-iphone/
When you sent messages to the group, were all numbers visible to all recipients?
I am wondering if Mango implemented group text messaging in a way that does not expose the numbers of all recipients. If the numbers for all recipients are not visible to all recipients, then Windows Phone 7 and the iPhone don't implement it the same. So, on one of your friends phones, check to see if all numbers are visible for messages you sent. Since their replies only went to you, I suspect they are not receiving the numbers of all recipients.
I don't know how Android implements Group messaging. Since you didn't say any of your friends had issues, I am guessing it is the same way the iPhone does it. This probably means that iMessage isn't a factor.
Unfortunately, I cannot test this because I ported the number for my LG Quantum to Google Voice to use on my iPhone that work pays for. At some point, I will be getting a prepaid SIM to put in my Quantum so that I can test things, but I have not done so yet.
All I could see on the vibrant was that I got a message from myself. Nothing about other numbers. Biggest reason I wanted to do this is so that I can cc myself in every thread I start, giving me the ability to respond transparently from any of my devices.
Was traveling for 12 hours and people got confused when I swapped devices (and.sometimes I plain.just don't feel like switching off what I'm using at that moment). Don't think I message was the issue, since the android phones aren't working either.
I knowbiys sending an mms cause.I can see the empty subject field on all of the devices.
Maybe it only works for instant.messages?
This keyboard has the worse Autocorrect ever.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using Tapatalk
There are lots of legitimate shortcomings of this wonderful platform, this is not one of them.
I mass-text enough. And I have never expected their responses to show up in the mass text field. How on earth would that be engineered?
sure haven't said:
There are lots of legitimate shortcomings of this wonderful platform, this is not one of them.
I mass-text enough. And I have never expected their responses to show up in the mass text field. How on earth would that be engineered?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Although i haven't used the group texting, i wouldn't expect it either to do what i think he is thinking it would do.
Windows Phone keeps history on all your contacts and what each contact has said under that contact. It's not a forum with all of your users joining a thread and posting for all to see. It would make sense that the response to your text came from just that person. It's not designed to let everyone see the response, only the response coming from that person to you. If it allowed more than it would be group instant messaging or group chat. That is not what it is.
Also... isn't what you are trying to do, what email is for? would make more sense.
sure haven't said:
There are lots of legitimate shortcomings of this wonderful platform, this is not one of them.
I mass-text enough. And I have never expected their responses to show up in the mass text field. How on earth would that be engineered?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Funny thing. The OP posted about this in another thread stating that Android doesn't support group messaging. Somehow it became a Windows Phone 7 issue.
In any case the mods removed that post for other reasons and disabled his account. I only saw the post in an email, because I get emails of all posts to the thread he posted in. When I actually went to the thread it was all cleaned up. Since this is the 2nd disabling in a short period of time, it may be permanent.
iPhone does implent group sms so that when iPhone users text each other using group SMS, it effectivey is like a chat room. Responses go to all recipients. All recipients receive the phone numbers of all recipients which allows reply to send responses to all recipients.
I am not sure if Windows Phone 7 group SMS does something similar to this when all phones are Windows Phone 7. To me this feature is primarly useful for event organizers, such as the captain of my softball team that sends things out to all of us, such as weather updates or asking if we know of anyone that can sub. Not as much for a big chat.
I don't have an active SIM for my LG Quantum, so I can't test it.
I have always thought of group texting as more of a way to send for example a merry xmas to all your friends (like 80 or so) in one clip. You don't want all your friends getting all 80 responses (that may kill someones text plan if they have limited)
Interesing that the iphone does that. you would think it wouldn't due to the above issue or to use a different transport.
ROCOAFZ said:
I have always thought of group texting as more of a way to send for example a merry xmas to all your friends (like 80 or so) in one clip. You don't want all your friends getting all 80 responses (that may kill someones text plan if they have limited)
Interesing that the iphone does that. you would think it wouldn't due to the above issue or to use a different transport.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On the iPhone,
It doesn't send 80 messages to each recipient. It just includes all 80 phone numbers with the message.
But, if they reply, it will reply to all 80.
Somehow the replies from iPhones doing this only count as 1 message though.
JVH3 said:
On the iPhone,
It doesn't send 80 messages to each recipient. It just includes all 80 phone numbers with the message.
But, if they reply, it will reply to all 80.
Somehow the replies from iPhones doing this only count as 1 message though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah i meant on the reply. hmm interesting ... maybe they included it in there plan... actually can you get limited messaging on an iphone plan? Maybe that is why?
ROCOAFZ said:
yeah i meant on the reply. hmm interesting ... maybe they included it in there plan... actually can you get limited messaging on an iphone plan? Maybe that is why?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think it is because group messing is actually MMS, not SMS.
This blog explains it well. http://shawnblanc.net/2010/12/iphone-group-messaging/
So, it uploads the message once.
Also, iPhone users have the free benefit of iMessage which gives unlimited messaging regardless of carrier between all iPhone OS 5 users. This also applies to iTouch and iPads.
So, on AT&T with my iPhone, I can message and iPhone on Verizon and Sprint for no charge. And to us it seems no different than SMS, except the background color is blue instead of green.
I turned group text off the minute I found out what it was I have a feeling most people don't know what they are actually doing when they use it. Whenever one goes out, I always end up with a bunch of unnecessary texts from people I don't even know.

Limited number of SMS characters when typing in another language - issue!!!

Ok, this is so weird. Had this problem on Android 4.0.2 and it's still here in 4.0.4.
As soon as I start typing in my language (I'm Roumanian), using any 3-rd party keyboard, I get a limited number of SMS characters.
When I type in English I find no problem. I get the 167 characters normal for a SMS message.
I attached two screenshots to show you what I'm talking about.
Does anyone have an answer? What should I do?
I cant see your attached image (the server is blocked here) but I have this same problem writing in portuguese. It is because of the encoding of the accents. As soon as you include an accent the encoding of the entire message changes and the message limit is reduced.
juliano_q said:
I cant see your attached image (the server is blocked here) but I have this same problem writing in portuguese. It is because of the encoding of the accents. As soon as you include an accent the encoding of the entire message changes and the message limit is reduced.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for taking the time to answer. I even tried 3-rd party SMS apps and still I get only 70 characters out of the normal 167. Is this an issue that Google overlooked?
Edit: It seems that Apple users are experiencing the same issue.
"This is only an issue for non-English speaking countries... That's why this is not a big deal for the North-Americans that (comprehensively) sometimes simply don't understand what are we talking about...
In any mobile Phone (iPhone included), when you write a SMS using special characters like "ç","á","é","í","ó","ú","ñ","ä", etc, the SMS are limited to only 70 characters instead of 160 characters because a extended encoding is necessary! So, you pay 3x the price of an SMS if you write 160 characters (it will send 3 SMS: 70+70+20). Besides that, the risk of the SMS not being delivered is higher because it is actually sending 3 SMS at once and sometimes it gets broken in the way.
So, to solve this issue, there is a feature in any Nokia mobile phone almost for 10 YEARS (!!!) called: "SMS Extended Character Set": ON/OFF
If turned ON, it uses extended character set with 70 characters per SMS and the destination Phone gets all the special characters: "ç","á","é","í","ó","ú","ñ","ä"
If it is turned OFF: the phone allows to write special characters, with 160 characters per SMS, but automatically converts the special characters to their basic equivalents "c","a","e","i","o","u","n","a" when sending the SMS.
... It is amazing how Apple is 10 years behind other mobile manufacturers in this matter... Maybe because Nokia is originally from Finland (where they use special characters and experienced the issue) while Apple is from the USA, where they naturally (and sadly) don't recognize this as a issue.
Imagine if you send 1000 SMS in a week and you have to pay them (many people pay them)... You have to be very careful not to introduce any special character otherwise you pay 3x the money!"

Categories

Resources