What are some text message apps that don't have the character limits?

[AC Question]

I just got a HTC One M8 and I have had an iPhone for a few years. I notice that the M8 has character limits for the texting apps and it is driving me crazy cause 160 characters just isn't that much. I hate sending texts and they wind up being in 5 parts cause it is a lot to say and I can't speak to someone on the phone when I need the information. Any suggestions?

 

[hallux]

160 is the limit of the carriers. If you need more, link up with the people you need to message using Hangouts as a chat (rather than text) app or convince them to try a different app such as Whatsapp.

Messages just made the 160 limit invisible, it broke up then reassembled the messages, or just sent them through the web connection if the recipient also had Messages.

 

[Rukbat]

The SMS protocol (which is used for texting) has a 140 octet limit (an octet is a group of 8 bits). Since text characters are 7 bits, the 140 octets is 1120 bits, and 160 7 bit characters are 1120 bits.

Some texting apps send larger texts as SMS files, with the text being the address the recipient presses to get the text file, some send a large text as multiple 160 character texts. Or you can use Hangouts, IRC, email or other messaging apps that don't use SMS.

(The problem is that SMS was developed for pocket pagers, which seldom needed more than 140 characters. Stuff like "I'm on the way home", or "meet me at Joe's" or "call me". The industry decided to use SMS for texting, instead of designing some other protocol that the whole industry could agree on. (Apple still doesn't agree on SMS - iMessage and SMS aren't compatible.) Getting the whole electronics industry to agree on a standard makes herding cats look simple. (I've been involved with a few standards committees. Three year olds fighting in a sandbox are more polite.)