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Help Best way to group message Iphone'ers with my s3?

davidmanvell said:
Ummm 75% of the smartphone market belongs to Android. 14% to Apple. you'd think Apple would get on board and start using standard messaging not the other way around...


The stock Verizon / Samsung messaging app supports group messages.
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Huh? Android is the one that's behind the standard on this. All the other OSs, (iOS, WP, BB) have group messaging built in. iPhone doesn't HAVE to iMessage to group chat. They can do it even when iMessage is disabled. I'm actually surprised Android doesn't have group messaging built into the stock messaging app yet.

I had to use GoSMS to use it on my One S but it was frustrating and not as smooth as the stock messaging app. It should be built into the OS by now.
 
My wife insists that I participate in group texting with her and other iphone users. Here is how you do it. Download Handcent from Play market. Open and go to Menu, Settings, Application Settings. Select "Default Messaging Application" and select "All" then go "back" to last menu. Then scroll all the way down and select "Thread Group Conversation". Now back out to main settings menu. Select "Receive Message Settings" and check "Auto retrieve" and "Auto Download". Now that should get things going on Handcent. Then open up the stock messaging app and then menu, settings and turn off "Notifications". Else you will get duplicate notifications. Remove the stock messaging icon from home screen bar and replace with Handcent. I know a lot of work for something that Android should already do. I am sure it's a patent thing. BTW I am on AT&T with a GS3 running Jelly Bean 4.1.1.
 
gweff said:
My wife insists that I participate in group texting with her and other iphone users. Here is how you do it. Download Handcent from Play market. Open and go to Menu, Settings, Application Settings. Select "Default Messaging Application" and select "All" then go "back" to last menu. Then scroll all the way down and select "Thread Group Conversation". Now back out to main settings menu. Select "Receive Message Settings" and check "Auto retrieve" and "Auto Download". Now that should get things going on Handcent. Then open up the stock messaging app and then menu, settings and turn off "Notifications". Else you will get duplicate notifications. Remove the stock messaging icon from home screen bar and replace with Handcent. I know a lot of work for something that Android should already do. I am sure it's a patent thing. BTW I am on AT&T with a GS3 running Jelly Bean 4.1.1.
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Ahhhh, this was the part I was missing. No more clicking the download button anymore. Nice. Thanks.
 
I suppose it depends on how you define performance. The stock messaging app is a perfectly capable messaging app.

On the other hand apps like GoSMS and Handscent do provide more features than the stock messaging apps. If you want or need those features then that is what you need to switch to.
 
fdbryant3 said:
You do realize this entire thread is about group messaging? Pretty much all the suggestions can be found within it.
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Thank you all for the information provided. I installed the Handcent and it seems to be working so far... However, all msgs I send it shows as "Me" but also duplicate as if another person with an unknown number (which is mine) is sending the same msg seconds later.

Is anyone facing the issue? Do you know how to fix it? Thanks!
 
gweff said:
My wife insists that I participate in group texting with her and other iphone users. Here is how you do it. Download Handcent from Play market. Open and go to Menu, Settings, Application Settings. Select "Default Messaging Application" and select "All" then go "back" to last menu. Then scroll all the way down and select "Thread Group Conversation". Now back out to main settings menu. Select "Receive Message Settings" and check "Auto retrieve" and "Auto Download". Now that should get things going on Handcent. Then open up the stock messaging app and then menu, settings and turn off "Notifications". Else you will get duplicate notifications. Remove the stock messaging icon from home screen bar and replace with Handcent. I know a lot of work for something that Android should already do. I am sure it's a patent thing. BTW I am on AT&T with a GS3 running Jelly Bean 4.1.1.
Click to expand...

Ahhhh, life saver. Thanks for the detailed steps.
 
I group message on my s3 with iPhone users on the stock messaging app. Just turn it on in settings. Mine is sprint on 4.4.2 KitKat though.
 
gweff said:
My wife insists that I participate in group texting with her and other iphone users. Here is how you do it. Download Handcent from Play market. Open and go to Menu, Settings, Application Settings. Select "Default Messaging Application" and select "All" then go "back" to last menu. Then scroll all the way down and select "Thread Group Conversation". Now back out to main settings menu. Select "Receive Message Settings" and check "Auto retrieve" and "Auto Download". Now that should get things going on Handcent. Then open up the stock messaging app and then menu, settings and turn off "Notifications". Else you will get duplicate notifications. Remove the stock messaging icon from home screen bar and replace with Handcent. I know a lot of work for something that Android should already do. I am sure it's a patent thing. BTW I am on AT&T with a GS3 running Jelly Bean 4.1.1.
Click to expand...

Sorry to dredge up an old thread but FYI, in case it helps anyone else, this group-texting solution worked for me on my Android 2.3 ("Gingerbread") phone. I tested it with iPhone users.

One downside: at 19MB total data usage, Handscent is one of the bigger memory hogs among my apps.
 
Apple uses iMessage, similar to Instance Messenger or Yahoo Messenger, or "light email". Imessage uses data (wifi, 3G, 4G), has unlimit size. Android uses SMS which "ping" with the cellular towers, limited to only 160 chars per text. The two platforms are different. The stock ones for android has "group" enabled now but its still not perect in group texting. Same goes for hands cent and others mentioned above, cuz they still use SMS.

I am the only android in my large circle of friends. It's a pain in the arse! Wish the two OS would play nice and use the same plarform. Still wishing!
 
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