Question about MMS and Mobile Data

[Othe12sid3]

You're using mms because it allows for any length of text - SMS is limited to 140 char per message and different carriers and apps send multiple messages differently and some do it poorly. Why don't you just email? Or get everyone on WhatsApp... Seriously, that would be the better solution.

?Sent from my Sprint GS4 using Tapatalk ?
?? Formerly "Evo_girl"

These would be a "better" solutions but it's not anywhere near optimal ones. Most people just want to text because it's instant (unlike email) and built-in no matter what phone you're using (unlike external apps). I know some people who refuse to install apps just for one purpose (talking to me), especially if they have multiple other chat apps installed. Stubborn, yes, but hey I do see where they're coming from.

My reasoning for wanting to send MMS over Wi-fi was so that I could turn off my Mobile Data radio off completely and save some battery. Now that I found out it's probably not possible, I'm cool with having it on.

I'm on Verizon which is why I probably get the notification of MMS with data off and others don't. Maybe it's carrier specific

These are my experiences with Verizon MMSing, with my Mobile Data turned OFF:

1. When I was talking to a single person via SMS, and he tried to send a picture, I would get a MMS notification saying "download message. Will expire on [date]." In other words I knew I got a MMS message, I just couldn't see/read it until I turned mobile data back on.

2. When I was having a group text conversation (entirely MMS), I would receive zero MMS notifications while mobile data was off. I had no idea I was receiving MMS messages from the group until I turned mobile data back on, where upon doing so I received a flood of MMS messages. There were no picture or media files, just texts. All appeared to be timestamped correctly.

As you can see, the second scenario was the one I was worried about, as it would be easy to miss possibly important texts if your mobile data is turned off.

 

[ihbsbA]

These would be a "better" solutions but it's not anywhere near optimal ones. Most people just want to text because it's instant (unlike email) and built-in no matter what phone you're using (unlike external apps). I know some people who refuse to install apps just for one purpose (talking to me), especially if they have multiple other chat apps installed. Stubborn, yes, but hey I do see where they're coming from.

My reasoning for wanting to send MMS over Wi-fi was so that I could turn off my Mobile Data radio off completely and save some battery. Now that I found out it's probably not possible, I'm cool with having it on.


These are my experiences with Verizon MMSing, with my Mobile Data turned OFF:

1. When I was talking to a single person via SMS, and he tried to send a picture, I would get a MMS notification saying "download message. Will expire on [date]." In other words I knew I got a MMS message, I just couldn't see/read it until I turned mobile data back on.

2. When I was having a group text conversation (entirely MMS), I would receive zero MMS notifications while mobile data was off. I had no idea I was receiving MMS messages from the group until I turned mobile data back on, where upon doing so I received a flood of MMS messages. There were no picture or media files, just texts. All appeared to be timestamped correctly.

As you can see, the second scenario was the one I was worried about, as it would be easy to miss possibly important texts if your mobile data is turned off.

WhatsApp is faster than texting any day - FYI! But I get your point... I would still extol the benefits and ease of using it to everyone I talked to!

?Sent from my Sprint GS4 using Tapatalk ?
?? Formerly "Evo_girl"

 

[tytlyf]

As you can see, the second scenario was the one I was worried about, as it would be easy to miss possibly important texts if your mobile data is turned off.

Ya I don't know why group text messages would not come through? Why would they be classified as MMS? Size maybe?

 

[Othe12sid3]

Ya I don't know why group text messages would not come through? Why would they be classified as MMS? Size maybe?

Okay I'm not sure if this is correct because I'm not too familiar with the exact differences between SMS and MMS. But from what research I've done, group message functionality, at least from my definition of it, is only possible via MMS. An old post from this forum gave me my definition, which I think explains it very clearly:

Group Text - you select multiple recipients and send a message. They all receive it as an MMS, and they can see who all the other recipients were. When any of the recipients sends a reply, it goes to the sender and all the other recipients.

Mass Text - you select a Group that is defined in your Contacts - or multiple groups or multiple individuals - and send a message. The message is sent as an SMS message, with one copy of the message sent to each recipient. Each recipient only sees the sender, but none of the other recipients. Thus, any replies only go to the sender.​

Therefore, I believe if you want to "group text" where everyone else can see the recipients, you must do it through MMS (which the stock messenger automatically does for you), unless you have a specialized app that allows SMS to inherit this feature. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.