Android Messages - why do incoming group and long messages appear as MMS?

[cbit]

AT&T HTC One M8 Marshmallow. I'm frequently missing group messages as well as some long messages because they 1) appear as MMS and 2) don't download automatically. If I click to download, the messages then appear in the individual sender's conversation. Is there a way to get this to happen automatically?

 

[Ry]

SMS isn't designed for group/threaded messaging.

SMS is designed to handle 160 character single messages. There's a setting on some apps but for greater than 160 it'll either convert it to MMS or break it up into multiple 153 character messages.

It's dependent on the sender.

 

[cbit]

Thank you. I'll share with the senders. How about handling on my end? Would a different messaging app be able to automatically download and unpack the MMS items?

 

[ManiacJoe]

Yes, a different (higher end) SMS app might help. Many of the pre-installed apps are too basic for many things.
Which one are you currently using?

I like Textra, but I also admit that I don't get many MMS messages.