I use Handcent for my SMS text app. I have about 6k texts on my phone now. Haven't deleted any since 2.1 came out and I needed to format. Sometimes my phone CRAWLS when receiving or sending a text. I mean it'll take 2-3 minutes just to send or receive a text. Handcent will hang for that long. When I power down the phone it usually improves responsiveness in Handcent but I'm wondering if I should delete the threads? Will I notice an improvement in text speed? I have no idea how much space a text message uses but I'm also wondering if I'm wasting internal memory space too. I don't have many picture messages. They are mostly just text messages. Any input would be appreciated. Thanks.
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JB in AZ
Android Expert
Welcome to the forum! It has been widely discussed, that a large amount of text messages stored on the phone can have adverse effects on the speed of your phone, as you have surmised. It is probably a good idea to delete any threads that approach or are over about 1000 messages. Maybe even delete entire threads if you don't need them. If you want to keep them, there are some sms backup apps in the market.
BlackedOut
Member
Get the "delete old messages" app. The free version allows you to delete messages from a certain time back. I usually keep it on 1 month. If you opt for the paid version it will automatically trim it back to whatever you set it for. It's pretty handy.
tatonka_Hero
Android Expert
I delete my texts pretty much every time I flash a new ROM (which used to be a LOT), because most of the time I wipe the phone and start from scratch.
However, the general consensus is that large text threads (usually over a thousand) will slow your phone down drastically, and it's highly recommended to delete them...as everyone else in this thread has already stated
However, the general consensus is that large text threads (usually over a thousand) will slow your phone down drastically, and it's highly recommended to delete them...as everyone else in this thread has already stated
LBPHeretic
Android Expert
I had the same problem as you. I had not deleted any of my text messages since I had updated to Android 2.1. Eventually, loading any thread of text messages started taking lots of time. The worst part was that when I tried to start deleting threads of text messages it was taking a really long time.
I did eventually get all of my old text messaging threads off of my Sprint HTC Hero though. Now, I delete the text messaging threads about once every one or two weeks depending on the volume of texts I have stored in memory.
I did eventually get all of my old text messaging threads off of my Sprint HTC Hero though. Now, I delete the text messaging threads about once every one or two weeks depending on the volume of texts I have stored in memory.
Thanks for the responses. I did install the paid version of delete old messages but it's soooo slow. I'm not sure what I'm expecting but it only deleted about 500 texts overnight last night. It's gonna take me a week at this rate doing it every night. But once I get rid of them, I'm gonna use it every week and it should be quicker. I'm keeping the last 10 texts in each thread so it won't pile up again.
i did mine last night.. I use the same app... started it at 5pm
it did 900 in 4 hrs. I leave 1 months of text in the phone; that would be about 2000 texts.
LBPHeretic
Android Expert
Wow, it took four hours to delete 900 text messages? That is crazy.
Even when I had about 2000 text messages on my Sprint HTC Hero, because I had not cleaned them out since the Android 2.1 update, it only took about fifteen to twenty minutes at most to delete them all manually. Although, I had read in reviews of the automatic text message deleting app that it is painfully slow to perform its duties.
