Can you please help

Neutrality

Hello avforums
I have just joined the community to try and find answers to the following questions relating to a mobile phone:

1) Who sets the limit of characters in a text message (phone manufacturer or service provider)?
2) How do you stop a Samsung Galaxy S4 mini from changing a group text message (sms) into a multimedia message (mms) thus incurring charges by the service provider?. I do not want to add pictures or emoticons. Is it the phone that does this or the service provider?
3) Why would adding text into the "subject field" of a text message change it from a sms to a mms? Is it the phone that does this or the service provider?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Fransje

Which sim is tot the S4 mini 19195 Samsung?

techquest

SMS has a 160 character limit and depending on your device a message longer that 160 characters will either be split into several sms messages or sent as mms.

The system through which sms transmissions are sent isn’t really a limitation of choice of the carrier, 160 characters is often all that the networks can handle at once. SMS uses a channel designed to send small packets of information between phones and cell towers. This method was chosen as the basis for sms because the system was simple to implement, with less need of new infrastructure.

Your phone is what decides if the message is sms or mms.

In your S4 mini
Message Settings
Scroll down to MMS Alert
Tick the box so that the phone alerts you when the sms changes mode to mms.

Emoticons are generally 90 character  and are the biggest source of accidental mms messages.

Group Messages are another way of inadvertently sending an mms unintentionally. Any group message should be limited to batches of 5 contacts per message to avoid this.

Smudger1

Or you could use a feature-rich messaging app, like WhatsApp or Messanger, or Telegraph if you don't want to be beholden to Facebook...

Steven

Facebook messenger is owned by Facebook

WhatsApp is also owned by Facebook

Smudger1

Which is why I said "or Telegraph if you don't want to be beholden to Facebook"

techquest

In a further clarification I should point out 160 characters is set in stone and always will be.

However current technology allows the maximum length of text message you can send is 918 characters. So if you send more than 160 characters your message will be broken down in to chunks of 153 characters, or part there of, before being sent to the recipient’s handset, 6 x 153 = 918

The vast majority of handsets nowadays will join multiple message parts together and present a single, extra-length message for the recipient to view. But the networks will charge you for every chunk of 153 characters that you send! A message of 420 characters for example will be sent and charged as 3 text messages.

Steven

Unless someone is on an old legacy plan that is no longer publicly available I cannot see this being practical issue in 2019? A quick Google and look at the most basic SIM only plans with Vodafone, id mobile, Asda, Giffgaff, three and plus net show they all offer unlimited text messages ( *Giffgaff offer 500 message limit) for a monthly cost ranging £5 to £7. It is the data allowance and minutes that is the differentiator between each plan

Dave X

I would presume you’re actually trying to recommend Telegram?

I don’t think I’ve seen a Telegraph messenger...

Smudger1

Yes, Telegram. Oops