MMS over WiFi?

[little_ames]

I'm a new HTC One user and i just noticed that a picture message my friend sent me uses mobile data. My friend is an Android newbie, coming from Apple and she is baffled that you have to have mobil data to send an mms.
Why is it that Android still can't send and receive mms over wifi?

I read somewhere about Hangouts being the equivalent of iMessage, but I have never ever used Hangouts and know nothing about it. Can someone shed some light?

On another note, I'm loving the M8 so far.

 

[SpookDroid]

Hi there,

Well, your friend is understanding MMS incorrectly. MMS has NEVER been able to send/receive data over WiFi. On any platform. Ever. (With the notable exception of carriers that now offer WiFi Calling, but that's a different story).

MMS as a protocol can only travel on mobile data channels, and just like an SMS, it needs your phone to have an active connection to your carrier. iMessage, unlike SMS/MMS, doesn't use these protocols to send messages among iMessage users, they use a different protocol that CAN travel through WiFi, without needing a connection to the carrier (you can use these services with Airplane mode on but with WiFi on).

iMessage and Hangouts are similar in that they use these 'Internet based' messaging protocols, just like Skype, Facebook's Messenger, BBM, etc. However, iMessage goes a step further and, when texting a non-iPhone user, automatically switches the message to SMS/MMS, and THAT still needs mobile data (or WiFi calling).