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Don't Put Texts Together (Conversation?)

PGB1213

Well-Known Member
I am exploring Google Message app and am trying to figure out how to make texts separate. Searching on line revealed no answer, but I may be searching wrong. I apologize, but don't know the proper term for it, so I'll describe it. (Best guess = Conversation?)

When there is an existing text message on my phone from, for example, Sue at (313) 555-1213 and I want to send Sue another message t0 (313) 555-12112, but not with the first message attached.

Conversely, if there is a message from Sue already on the phone and days, weeks or months later, she sends me another, it gets attached to the existing message int he inbox.

Is there some way to turn this behavior off and let each message be its own entity?
Also, what it the proper term to describe this?

Thanks For Teaching,
Paul
 
I think "conversations" is as good a word as any for what you are describing.

But what you are asking for is the way texts were presented before smartphones. This is just a matter of presentation: sending another message to Sue doesn't attach the previous message to it, it's just the SMS app groups all messages between you and Sue together in one conversation, between you and Alice in another, between you and Bob in a third, etc.

So the way to do what you ask would be to find an app that presented the messages the old way, or had an option to do so. It's not a setting in Google Messages, but if you can find another app that does have that option you can just use that instead. You won't lose any messages, because your current messages aren't actually in the Google Messages app but in a system database that any SMS app can use - change apps and you'll find all of your messages are still there. The only exception is if you use RCS messaging, which Google Messages calls "chat", because most apps don't support that so if that's something you use your choice of SMS apps will be very limited.

So the question is, is there an app that offers what you want? There used to be one that had this option, called Pansi SMS. You could swap between the 2 views in that app. But the app was discontinued many years ago, and I don't personally know of another that does this. That in itself probably tells you that it wasn't a popular feature.

Edit: sorry, I realise that you are the same person who was asking about a "Sent" box the other day, so I've told you about that same old app before! But this is basically the same question, because a "Sent" box plus an "inbox" was the "dumbphone" way of organising SMS, so I ended-up giving the same answer.
 
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Your "conversations" never go away until you manually delete them, in your Google messages app.
To delete a conversation, the norm is to tap on the conversation from within the list of conversations, tap once, then again to choose delete / trashbin / whatever...
So it's usually a double - tap to delete the conversation.
I'm trying to write this in layman's terms so that you understand how to do this process.
And, as Hadron explained, there might be a messaging app that can delete a conversation once you are done with it, but I've never come across one that does.
Take your time, mess with your messages app so that you can completely navigate it's features, ask us anything, because we've all started out as you are, we've just been around this technology a little longer.
Some of us know our shit, some of us not as much. Again, we're here to help.
Danny D.
 
I apologize for not thanking you all sooner. I was locked out of my account.
Thanks to all for explaining that what I wish is not possible with the standard Messaging application. Such is life, I suppose.
Paul
 
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