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Help Debating RETURNING my galaxy s3 over this group text issue

bought the galaxy a week ago. phone is beautiful but I use group text all the time and the fact that android cant get this right baffles my mind. iphone 4 had no problem

tried go sms and handcent, and neither of them can even download the incoming group message. now its weird bc I know some people on the chains are not iPhone users.


Will this be something Android will fix or should I return it?

AT&T btw
 
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...now its weird bc I know some people on the chains are not iPhone users.

I have no idea whether group texts refers simply to sending a text to a group of people or something else - maybe something Apple? I think it would help if you clarified the issue because many people here want to help and support other users, but cannot do so unless the problem is explained very clearly. I don't think that posting "are you joking?" is a helpful response and is unlikely to encourage other forum users to lend their support.

Having got that off my chest, you say that some people on the chain are not iPhone users, so an obvious suggestion is that you contact them to see how they've got it to work - especially if they are using Android phones. Not that I even understand what "on the chain" means!
 
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im confused what a group message is i guess, I can send a message to 1 person or a group of people just be adding people to the To field before i hit send

I assume when they say "group message" they really mean "group chat" where text message replies are sent to all recipients of the initial group text message or in other words a text message conference call.

Basically iOS5+ users have an iMessenger app that allows iDevice users to do this and is integrated with their text messages.

GoSMS apparently tries to provide similar functionality by using an MMS Group Chat feature.

I'm still of the opinion the best solution is GroupME from Skype. It is free, seems to do the same thing as iMessenger but is cross platform (even people on feature phone can participate presuming they have texting). It has apps but works just fine over SMS. Best part is that only the group creator has to register an account to set up and manage groups. Once that is done all the creator has to do is add members to the groups. Recipients will receive a text inviting them to the group and all they have to do is reply to it. No need for recipients to install anything or set up an account somewhere. It is really very nice and works well.
 
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I assume when they say "group message" they really mean "group chat" where text message replies are sent to all recipients of the initial group text message or in other words a text message conference call.

Basically iOS5+ users have an iMessenger app that allows iDevice users to do this and is integrated with their text messages.

GoSMS apparently tries to provide similar functionality by using an MMS Group Chat feature.

I'm still of the opinion the best solution is GroupME from Skype. It is free, seems to do the same thing as iMessenger but is cross platform (even people on feature phone can participate presuming they have texting). It has apps but works just fine over SMS. Best part is that only the group creator has to register an account to set up and manage groups. Once that is done all the creator has to do is add members to the groups. Recipients will receive a text inviting them to the group and all they have to do is reply to it. No need for recipients to install anything or set up an account somewhere. It is really very nice and works well.

Yeah, I think this is what the OP is referring to. iOS has IMessenger and BlackBerry has BlackBerry Messanger. Android does not have anything like the built into the Android OS.
 
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I assume when they say "group message" they really mean "group chat" where text message replies are sent to all recipients of the initial group text message or in other words a text message conference call.

Basically iOS5+ users have an iMessenger app that allows iDevice users to do this and is integrated with their text messages.

GoSMS apparently tries to provide similar functionality by using an MMS Group Chat feature.

I'm still of the opinion the best solution is GroupME from Skype. It is free, seems to do the same thing as iMessenger but is cross platform (even people on feature phone can participate presuming they have texting). It has apps but works just fine over SMS. Best part is that only the group creator has to register an account to set up and manage groups. Once that is done all the creator has to do is add members to the groups. Recipients will receive a text inviting them to the group and all they have to do is reply to it. No need for recipients to install anything or set up an account somewhere. It is really very nice and works well.


thanks for the reply to explain the difference, I came from an iphone and never even realized when i sent a message to more than one person everyone got the replies.
 
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Just to clarify, this issue is not an Android issue. This is an issue per device based on whatever UI/UX that is running. On HTC Sense, this is easily done with a simple reply-all feature. However, it appears that TouchWiz does not have the same functionality for whatever reason.

Au contraire - it is an Android issue in that Android does not provide feature natively. As you have highlighted manfactuers may or may not choose to add this feature through their own custome apps. This does not change the fact that Android does not provide it.

Personally though I don't know that I'd like to see Android provide this as the trend seems to be provide it as proprietary service limited to only those using similar devices. One of the reasons I use GroupME now is because I could include my friends on Android phones, one on a feature, and friend on a Blackberry (and if I had any friends with iDevices or WinPhone they could be included to - heck even people on PCs could be included). If this is added into Android I hope they choose to do so in a manner that communicates with everyone regardless of what ecosystem they operate in.
 
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Not sure if we are talking about the same, but Google already provides a similar feature, and that's Talk, I am not sure whether it's cross-platform or not, but all it takes is a Google Account and the App itself. So Android users aren't left out, unless BBM and iMessenger have more features.

I might be wrong, since I actually use very rarely SMS services, etc.
 
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Just to clarify, this issue is not an Android issue. This is an issue per device based on whatever UI/UX that is running. On HTC Sense, this is easily done with a simple reply-all feature. However, it appears that TouchWiz does not have the same functionality for whatever reason.

Negative. If you hit reply all it sends your response to each individual as a separate text and not as a group. So each person thinks you are responding to them and not the group setting. Shame that google hasnt figured this out yet.
 
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Not sure if we are talking about the same, but Google already provides a similar feature, and that's Talk, I am not sure whether it's cross-platform or not, but all it takes is a Google Account and the App itself. So Android users aren't left out, unless BBM and iMessenger have more features.

I might be wrong, since I actually use very rarely SMS services, etc.

Talk is their online IM service. It operates over data and not SMS. It is cross platfom at least in the sense that if others can log into website they can get messages (not sure if actuall apps are available on other platforms). It's biggest downside I suppose is I don't think it keeps a record of the history and if you log out your out of the group until your reinvited. I would say it is a cousin to what we are talking about but not really the same thing.
 
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I have no idea whether group texts refers simply to sending a text to a group of people or something else - maybe something Apple? I think it would help if you clarified the issue because many people here want to help and support other users, but cannot do so unless the problem is explained very clearly. I don't think that posting "are you joking?" is a helpful response and is unlikely to encourage other forum users to lend their support.

Having got that off my chest, you say that some people on the chain are not iPhone users, so an obvious suggestion is that you contact them to see how they've got it to work - especially if they are using Android phones. Not that I even understand what "on the chain" means!

I apologize, didnt mean to be rude. this phone is so awesome but this one flaw is making me frustrated
 
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Yeah, I think this is what the OP is referring to. iOS has IMessenger and BlackBerry has BlackBerry Messanger. Android does not have anything like the built into the Android OS.

I have a group conversation with 8 people, basically like an email chain. Not all are ios users, but when I had the iphone basically every response was threaded, and when I sent a message, it would go to the group thread. now when I reply, it goes to every person individually
 
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Use PoWow messaging application. You can start group messaging with any cell phone. IPhone, blackberry,android, dumbphones. it works with all. No one needs to get the application. The chat just shows up as a thread in the stock SMS application.

I had the same problem when I first switched from ios to android. This was the best solution. Works just as good, IMO.
 
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