How to stop the reply all feature in text messaging

[madiger]

If someone sends me a group text, I usually end up with a bunch of replies from people I don't know. Same thing happens to everyone I send a group text to - they end up with a bunch of replies from people they don't know. This might be surprising to the software developers, but most of us have more than two friends, and those friends don't all know each other. It would be awesome if this feature could be turned off so that people aren't unnecessarily subjected to spam from others, who certainly don't intend for a large audience to see their replies.

This usually just results in confusion about who they're getting all these messages from, and I end up getting a bunch of "who is this" messages too. It's a really dopey feature because it definitely destroys privacy, and now my friends/family think they can't reply to my texts without others being able to read their responses.

Even I think twice about responding to a text now because I don't want a bunch of people who I don't know reading a response I intend only a friend to see, and I really don't want to end up with about 15 "who's this?" texts.

Is there any way to turn this off, or are we stuck with this "feature"?

 

[gone down south]

Friends don't send friends group texts.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Android Central Forums

 

[madiger]

Friends don't send friends group texts.

People send texts to more than one person - that's why this "feature" was created.

It should be assumed that not everyone in my phone knows each other, but at times will receive the same text message from me. The need to respond to a text without fear of revealing your thoughts and phone number to complete strangers should also be an assumption.

 

[gone down south]

That's funny, because group texting is the number one thing people complained about not having on Android until now. You're the first person to be upset it was finally implemented

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[madiger]

Friends don't send friends group texts.

group texting is the number one thing people complained about not having

You're contradicting yourself... But anyway, group texting would only be ok if it was an option rather than mandatory. And I'm not the first to have a problem with this, there are plenty in this forum and others dating back to 2009.. I'm just the newest.

 

[madiger]

Bump

 

[Jonneh]

It's funny because your post - OP - describes my EXACT scenario lately! I can not stand this "feature" and I have no idea why people think this is good. To each his own, of course, but I can't send group SMS/MMS anymore without confusing every single person involved when they suddenly begin receiving random replies from each person involved and no one knows wtf is going on anymore. It was actually really funny the first couple of times. Now it's just irritating and scary as shlt; everyone reads everyone else's replies. I honestly thought there was a problem/bug with my phone...like my 3rd party texting app, Handcent, needed to be updated in the Play store.

It's absolutely ridiculous to think that just because I am sending the same sentence or picture to more than one person (usually two, in my case), that those two or three people even know each other.
I haven't researched far into this issue yet (yes, it's definitely an issue for me) but surely there is some way to turn this nonsense off...I'll be looking around but please let me know if you find anything on it, madiger.


edit: And I do understand where the benefit comes in for some people. You could group text a group of friends (who obviously know each other - duh) about where to grab dinner, what movie to see, all of that jazz, right? Read each other's replies, laugh and joke while confirming the plans together; it's essentially a "chatroom" as opposed to an "IM" from our AIM days of the 90's.
For me, though, I (apparently) loved what everyone else hated - receiving separate replies from *GASP*!1 separate people! lol. It makes sense to me and is so much easier for me to manage.

I think the only time this would cause problems is if you're group texting a shlt-ton of people at once, like closer to ten or higher. Otherwise, managing two, three, or even four separate replies shouldn't pose a problem for any individual.

 

[madiger]

Yeah, the group text feature is a great idea, but the current implementation of it is garbage. The group texting advocates have more threads about this service being crap than people like me who just want the option of regular texting back. Bumping for justice.

 

[madiger]

bamp

 

[madiger]

bump

 

[MrsD.]

So I have a question. How do you group text? Sometimes I have to send the same text to my daughters, but I don't know how to text them at the same time. That means I have to text twice. Being a long time blackberry user, I'm finding this phone isn't nearly as user friendly and I'm experiencing a big learning curve.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Android Central Forums

 

[gone down south]

So I have a question. How do you group text? Sometimes I have to send the same text to my daughters, but I don't know how to text them at the same time. That means I have to text twice. Being a long time blackberry user, I'm finding this phone isn't nearly as user friendly and I'm experiencing a big learning curve.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Android Central Forums

Just type multiple names in the To field.


Sent from my Nexus 4 using Android Central Forums

 

[madiger]

bumping for justice

 

[CntryGirl16]

My last droid didn't do this. I updated to the Galaxy III yesterday. This is awful. Is there no fix? I am a cheer coach so I will send out game info/practice schedules/etc. Sometimes team members respond with private messages. For the past two years with my razor this wasn't an issue. It is now! My daughter's Christian girl's group sent out a reminder about snacks today and when I responded to the coordinator about a transportation issue I got a bunch of "who's this." Embarrassing and frustrating- especially since I didn't know my new phone did this. If people have been complaining since 2009 there has to be some sort of fix by now.

 

[madiger]

Even the people who wanted this feature think it sucks - they complain about it more than we do! Still no word on a fix..?

 

[madiger]

bump

 

[Jfaz525]

Newbie here but it really needs to be an option. Good arguments on both sides but how can you argue with "to each his own"?
Looking forward to a solution. Can't have everyone knowing my secrets LOL!

 

[gnr_2]

Back when phones weren't "smart" you could text numerous people at once and the people wouldn't be able to see other recipients or email them - like bcc in email. Now however everyone is in cc and it is automatically set to reply all. If someone wants to send a group email, a) they should have an option to turn it on and b1) when someone replies, they should be able to see that more than one person is getting the message and b2) be able to change it to "reply to sender" only. This seems as simply implemented as a pop-up when replying to a message.

Sent from my totally awesome Sprint Galaxy Nexus, even if I don't know all its secrets yet.

 

[Rocky Ruggiero]

I agree! I don't want all of these people to know my comments.

 

[Michael Vieux]

My last droid didn't do this. I updated to the Galaxy III yesterday. This is awful. Is there no fix? I am a cheer coach so I will send out game info/practice schedules/etc. Sometimes team members respond with private messages. For the past two years with my razor this wasn't an issue. It is now! My daughter's Christian girl's group sent out a reminder about snacks today and when I responded to the coordinator about a transportation issue I got a bunch of "who's this." Embarrassing and frustrating- especially since I didn't know my new phone did this. If people have been complaining since 2009 there has to be some sort of fix by now.

On the Galaxy SIII it's simple.
In the messaging app go to settings and uncheck
"Group Conversations"

All the recipients you've entered receives an individual message, and all replies are from-to you.

Or after you've entered all the recipients.
At the top of the message, there are two tabs.
Group conversations
Individual messages

And I would like to vote on the side of strongly dislike Group Messages sent as a group.
It's a mad house of disconnected messages

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