How the heck does Andriod still not support this feature?

[Nessal]

What I'm talking about is group texting. How in the world does Andriod still not have this feature in the standard messaging system when Apple has had it for years now. That just blows me mind.

No I don't want to have to download some app to do it. It should come preprogrammed to do it. I have other phones that are old as hell and still support this. Blackberry has been doing it for a long time as well. WTF?!!?

 

[Demache]

What's group texting? Please enlighten me.

 

[breadnatty08]

Give Handcent SMS a shot. I've used the stock messaging app maybe twice. Handcent fully supports it. This is the great thing about Android: choice.

 

[Nessal]

Does Handcent allow you to send the text from your regular phone number and also recieve the text from your regular phone's number? I used some other program before and it requires a dedictated number in order to receive text and to send text. So I have to give my friends two phone numbers and they have to remember to use the correct one in order to text me. What a pain in the butt!

 

[Nessal]

What's group texting? Please enlighten me.

Basically it allows you to chat in one text window with like 10 of your friends. Without group texting, when someone replies to your mass text, they come back as single text and will only send it to you specifically so everyone else on the list can not see their text. So think about it like this. Group text allows you to setup a chatroom with a bunch of your friends. Everyone can see anyone's reply all on one window.

Also, with a lot of iPhone users, they will include you in a group text but when you reply, it only goes to the person that sent the text first and not to everyone else on this list.

Now imagine if you were included in a group text with 10 people. When you reply, in order for everyone to know what your response is, you have to message individually everyone on that list. With group text, you reply once in that window and everyone gets it. It

 

[brotherswing]

Does Handcent allow you to send the text from your regular phone number and also recieve the text from your regular phone's number? I used some other program before and it requires a dedictated number in order to receive text and to send text. So I have to give my friends two phone numbers and they have to remember to use the correct one in order to text me. What a pain in the butt!

Handcent uses your regular phone number, it acts as a front-end to the phones native SMS capabilities.

 

[Nessal]

Handcent uses your regular phone number, it acts as a front-end to the phones native SMS capabilities.

Ok I will give it a try.

 

[damewolf13]

Basically it allows you to chat in one text window with like 10 of your friends. Without group texting, when someone replies to your mass text, they come back as single text and will only send it to you specifically so everyone else on the list can not see their text. So think about it like this. Group text allows you to setup a chatroom with a bunch of your friends. Everyone can see anyone's reply all on one window.

Also, with a lot of iPhone users, they will include you in a group text but when you reply, it only goes to the person that sent the text first and not to everyone else on this list.

Now imagine if you were included in a group text with 10 people. When you reply, in order for everyone to know what your response is, you have to message individually everyone on that list. With group text, you reply once in that window and everyone gets it. It

 

[9to5cynic]

Learn something everyday; I also didn't know what group messages were.

 

[EarlyMon]

Ok I will give it a try.

Your next frustration is how to make Handcent your default and not get double notifications for incoming messages. Answer is here -

Handcent

I have used it for going on 2 years, it is worth the setup hassle.

Welcome to the forums!

 

[Caloy]

What I'm talking about is group texting. How in the world does Andriod still not have this feature in the standard messaging system when Apple has had it for years now. That just blows me mind.

No I don't want to have to download some app to do it. It should come preprogrammed to do it. I have other phones that are old as hell and still support this. Blackberry has been doing it for a long time as well. WTF?!!?

I'm not sure about other phones, but my phone (HTC Evo 4G) does it out of the box. You just have to create a group on your contacts list and when you want to text a group you just send it to the group's name.

 

[Caloy]

Okay, I tested it out and group texting is definitely available on my phone. First you make a group on People (contacts) then instead of typing a name, hit the people logo just right of where you input your recipient. Then the first on the list is groups (or something like that). Then send. It should send the message to everyone in that group. You can even send to multiple groups if you want.

Again, this is on my phone. I assume all HTC phones have it. Not sure if all Android phones have it.

 

[damewolf13]

I know that my Samsung, Motorola, and HTC phones all have group contacts support, so group texting is probably available for almost all phones.

 

[Stigy]

I think there is a difference people are missing here and if not I guess my explanation below is for nothing, but I think I see the misunderstanding here.

Samsung, Motorola and the like allow you to send messages to a group of contacts all at once. However when someone from the group replies, it only goes back to you and not back to the entire group at once. Its similar to adding multiple contacts separately to a text message.

Group messaging on the iPhone (which uses Apple's proprietary MMS protocol) allows for a group of people to have an IM-style conversation in one thread. So for example I send a message to Jack and Jill. If Jack replies, both Jill and myself receive the response from Jack. On Android if Jack replied (using stock SMS app) only I would get it and it would create a new thread with Jack.

GO SMS and Handcent both support the iPhone style of group messaging though.

 

[Nessal]

I think there is a difference people are missing here and if not I guess my explanation below is for nothing, but I think I see the misunderstanding here.

Samsung, Motorola and the like allow you to send messages to a group of contacts all at once. However when someone from the group replies, it only goes back to you and not back to the entire group at once. Its similar to adding multiple contacts separately to a text message.

Group messaging on the iPhone (which uses Apple's proprietary MMS protocol) allows for a group of people to have an IM-style conversation in one thread. So for example I send a message to Jack and Jill. If Jack replies, both Jill and myself receive the response from Jack. On Android if Jack replied (using stock SMS app) only I would get it and it would create a new thread with Jack.

GO SMS and Handcent both support the iPhone style of group messaging though.

Yes! This is EXACTLY what I'm referring to! I downloaded handcent yesterday and I'm still trying to figure out how to get it to do group messaging. But that's only a matter of time!:thumbup:

But what REALLLY annoys me is that it seems like I do not get the text message if the iphone users send it via iMessage. If someone in the group responds and their phone sends it via iMessage, everyone would get their text but me. Argh... I'll try to figure out what the heck is going on.

But all in all, this phone is AMAZING!:thumbup:

 

[Nessal]

My daughter has that, and she calls it Facebook.

Call me old fashion, but I don't have a facebook.

 

[Nessal]

Your next frustration is how to make Handcent your default and not get double notifications for incoming messages. Answer is here -

Handcent

I have used it for going on 2 years, it is worth the setup hassle.

Welcome to the forums!

Hahaha thanks for the heads up! Will definitey bookmark that site!

 

[Roze]

But what REALLLY annoys me is that it seems like I do not get the text message if the iphone users send it via iMessage. If someone in the group responds and their phone sends it via iMessage, everyone would get their text but me. :

I think this might be also be due to iMessage.

Doing some Google search:

Q: Can I reply to a group iMessage chat from a non-iPhone?
A: In a group iMessage, as long as one party does not have a iOS device or has iMessage activated, the entire group chat will revert to normal SMS. Hence, the scenario you described above will not exist.

source

 

[damewolf13]

Call me old fashion, but I don't have a facebook.

Then I am old fashioned too, cuz I don't have one either.

 

[breadnatty08]

With Handcent it's basically the same matter as sending a mass email. Put commas in between contacts. If they're already in your contact list, it makes it that much easier. Handcent also shows you the text going out to each contact so you can confirm it's sent.

 

[BabyBlues]

Just remember that on the flip side some people are not on unlimited texting and being included in group messages can eat into their allotment. Personally, I despise being included in a group message. I seem to be in a minority though.

 

[breadnatty08]

Just remember that on the flip side some people are not on unlimited texting and being included in group messages can eat into their allotment. Personally, I despise being included in a group message. I seem to be in a minority though.

I was shocked at the plan to move into 500 texts a month; who does that?
But, another option, which I don't believe has been brought up is to use Google Voice to send all your texts with no fees. I use it only for visual voicemail, but it's definitely an option.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/...evoice&feature=nav_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDNd

 

[Unforgiven]

I was shocked at the plan to move into 500 texts a month; who does that?
But, another option, which I don't believe has been brought up is to use Google Voice to send all your texts with no fees. I use it only for visual voicemail, but it's definitely an option.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/...evoice&feature=nav_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDNd

My step son's usage for the billing cycle that ended yesterday.

Sent Messages: 2884
Received Messages: 2815

Yes, I'm unlimited.
​

 

[rui-no-onna]

My step son's usage for the billing cycle that ended yesterday.

Sent Messages: 2884
Received Messages: 2815

Yes, I'm unlimited.
​

When my parents bought me my first cellphone (to be used for emergencies only), I was on prepaid. Anything over 300 messages or 40 minutes per month (or a combination thereof), I'd have to pay from my allowance. Needless to say, I was extremely careful with my usage.

Just remember that on the flip side some people are not on unlimited texting and being included in group messages can eat into their allotment. Personally, I despise being included in a group message. I seem to be in a minority though.

In most countries (basically, not the US), you only get charged for calls/messages you made/sent. Received calls/messages are free. This is one thing I find really annoying with US carriers.

 

[dan330]

I was shocked at the plan to move into 500 texts a month; who does that?
But, another option, which I don't believe has been brought up is to use Google Voice to send all your texts with no fees. I use it only for visual voicemail, but it's definitely an option.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/...evoice&feature=nav_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDNd

can google voice do group texting???... as in.. everyone in the group get text from everyone on the conversation

In most countries (basically, not the US), you only get charged for calls/messages you made/sent. Received calls/messages are free. This is one thing I find really annoying with US carriers.

one thing?? only one thing with US carriers that bother you?
i wish that was all that bothered me! :bawling::hmmmm2: