Group texting with iPhone friends

[sstephen17]

Moving from an iPhone 4S and my biggest concern was group texting with friends who have iPhones (I'm getting my GS4 in a few days). In one message group I'm in, a friend has a T-Mobile Galaxy S2 and whenever he replies to a message, it replies on an individual basis, not to the group. I'm curious as to which messaging app I should use. I've heard everything from the stock app to Handcent to Chomp. I don't really care about looks, only the functionality of being able to group message with my iPhone friends. Thanks.

 

[tewest86]

The stock messenging app has group testing built in. I used it on the Verizon and T-Mobile version.

 

[tewest86]

Here it is. Look at the bottom.

 

[Jaycemiskel]

Yep it works great

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

[John Donovan2]

I just got my Galaxy 4S which replaced my iPhone 4. My wife and kids have iPhones still. I disabled iMessage on my old iPhone and it seems to work as long as I select Group Conversation.
But through my web searches I was directed to load GO SMS Pro
Does anyone know if I really need that or is the stock message app sufficient?

Thanks
JD

 

[Jaycemiskel]

The stock app is sufficient

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

[John Donovan2]

I thought so but I am nit always getting all the responses in group messages. I see some messages from a few and all messages from others in the same group

Maybe I need to uninstall the GO SMS pro?

Sent from my SCH-I545 using AC Forums mobile app

 

[Robnrbrtsn]

Maybe some in the group are not replying to all but only individually. You can't control how everyone else replies. if it's intermittent like that what I would think.

 

[sstephen17]

Thanks for the info. I'll give the stock app a try first.

 

[paintdrinkingpete]

Moving from an iPhone 4S and my biggest concern was group texting with friends who have iPhones (I'm getting my GS4 in a few days). In one message group I'm in, a friend has a T-Mobile Galaxy S2 and whenever he replies to a message, it replies on an individual basis, not to the group. I'm curious as to which messaging app I should use. I've heard everything from the stock app to Handcent to Chomp. I don't really care about looks, only the functionality of being able to group message with my iPhone friends. Thanks.

Your friend with the GS2 probably isn't responding in "group" mode. Nothing you can do on your end.

The stock messenging app has group testing built in. I used it on the Verizon and T-Mobile version.

This is true for both the GS3 and GS4 (as well as several other models), but not older Android phones.

I just got my Galaxy 4S which replaced my iPhone 4. My wife and kids have iPhones still. I disabled iMessage on my old iPhone and it seems to work as long as I select Group Conversation.
But through my web searches I was directed to load GO SMS Pro
Does anyone know if I really need that or is the stock message app sufficient?

Thanks
JD

As I mentioned above, older Android phones didn't have this functionality built in, so 3rd party apps were needed. On the GS4 the builtin messaging app works fine for group messages.

I thought so but I am nit always getting all the responses in group messages. I see some messages from a few and all messages from others in the same group

Maybe I need to uninstall the GO SMS pro?

Sent from my SCH-I545 using AC Forums mobile app

Maybe some in the group are not replying to all but only individually. You can't control how everyone else replies. if it's intermittent like that what I would think.

Pretty sure that's it. If a member of the "group" is using a phone that doesn't support group messaging, it will be handled as an individual message. I'm not sure if iMessage is able to better handle these anomalies or not, but I would have assumed the behavior is the same(?). Either way, if it's a big deal, you need to educate your friends -- it's their phone that isn't formatting the messages properly. Most Androids will do group texting just fine, but again, as mentioned above, some older phones will need to use a 3rd party app, like GoSMS or Handcent.

FYI -- even if iMessage does a better job at grouping responses back to the original thread, those responses from that un-supported device are still being received only by you, and not the rest of the group. I'm amazed at how many iPhone owners don't realize that not all non-iPhones support group messaging and that it can be very confusing when random responses to group messages start coming into our devices from unrecognized numbers.

Personally, I just tell my friends that if having a group thread is so important, just email all of us.

 

[Wooglin]

I got single messages figured out (turn off iMessage on my old iPhone) but still cant get group messages working with iPhone users. Some of them see my messages, others dont, and I dont get any of their responses. I have a new Moto X. If I cant fix this issue Im going back to iPhone and Apple wins. So annoying that Im trapped in the Apple prison.

Unregistered my iPhone from Apple Support Profile and group texting still doesnt work.

Unbelievable. I have seen iPhone switchers complaining about this problem for over a year. This bs should be illegal. And no I dont want to download a 3rd party app for texting. If I cant get this working on stock Android Im switching back.

This problem and MS Exchange contacts not syncing from all contact folders are deal breakers. And I love the Moto X... but there are certain features that just HAVE to work. So frustrated with Apple right now.

 

[Wooglin]

Here's the deal on my Moto X having switched over from iPhone...

- standard Android text app does not do true single-threaded group messages with 2 or more iPhone users (plus your Android self) if they they have iMessage turned on. When they send a message (or reply to one you started fresh) it will default to to "Group" message not "Group MMS" (on iPhone display) and send an iMessage because there is another iMessager in the group....Android will not receive.

- I tried Go SMS and it has the same hang up.

- If you message between one iPhone user and other Android users such as yourself, it will default to "Group MMS" because there are no other iMessagers in the group. It works...iPhone sends as SMS...Android receives.

- With both Standard App and Go SMS I tested with one iPhone iMessage turned off and message defaults to "Group MMS' instead of "Group" on iPhone. It works...iPhone sends as SMS...Android receives.

BUT...all your iPhone friends would have to TURN OFF iMESSAGE. I doubt it. Asking thousands to turn off iMessage so Android users can group text with them is not a solution.

There is no solution as far as I can tell for true single-threaded group texting with multiple iPhone users. Curious what others experience? I am on Moto X 4.2.2

*Also - iOS 7 defaults to SMS OFF so single recipient texts will not even work with iPhone friends until they turn SMS ON.