Problems with SMS not all being received by Samsung phone

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rynevsn

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#229120 8-Feb-2018 16:12

Hi all,

I've got a Samsung A5 (2017) for work. I know the problems with Samsung and I would avoid them if possible (ie. touch-wiz, messing with a perfectly fine Android) but it's a work phone and they are serviced by Spark, who don't stock many of the great Android phones (e.g. Nexus, wtf!).

I recently upgraded the firmware on the A5 (OTA update) . This (potentially) proceeded to mean that my favorite (non-samsung) messaging apps (e.g. Pulse, Messages (google), and Textra) did not receive all the SMS sent to me by more than 10 people (that I know of). Following some digging, I believe Samsung have modified their software to render any third-party SMS apps not completely functional, making me revert to their ugly Samsung Messaging app.

Has anyone experienced this and have a potential fix? Haven't hard reset yet, but have soft. And yes, I'm considering ditching Samsung for good. Pity, I thought the A5 was the first Samsung I liked..

bradstewart

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#1953723 8-Feb-2018 16:25

I very much doubt that Samsung have made such a modification to break third party SMS applications. That would cause them to run afoul of Google's device certification.

I have an S8 on Android 8 and a 2017 A5 on Android 7 both running non standard messaging apps and no issues receiving SMS at all.

rynevsn

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#1953735 8-Feb-2018 16:51

bradstewart:

I very much doubt that Samsung have made such a modification to break third party SMS applications. That would cause them to run afoul of Google's device certification.

I have an S8 on Android 8 and a 2017 A5 on Android 7 both running non standard messaging apps and no issues receiving SMS at all.

Well, it's happening for me. Question is, how do you know you have received all your messages sent from others to your A5? ;) I've only just switched back to the stock Samsung message app, so that could be broken too. First time I've come across this, but I have proof (see one example attached), and there are multiple threads online from others with similar problems.

bradstewart

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#1953736 8-Feb-2018 16:58

There was an issue where people had been complaining that they weren't receiving SMS regardless of the app being used. I.e it was a bug and not a deliberate attempt by Samsung to lock out 3rd party apps.

The consensus seemed to be it was an issue with long/multipart SMS originating from iOS devices.

I'm pretty sure it was fixed with the December security updates.

freitasm

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#1953838 8-Feb-2018 20:26

I know of at least one OEM that intentionally block third party SMS apps - OPPO. But I don't think this is the case with Samsung.

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rynevsn

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#1953913 8-Feb-2018 22:14

Well the problem has resurfaced on my A5. I can't confirm all of the devices, but the majority of the messages that I didn't receive did come from iPhones. There were some very short messages that didn't get received by my phone though (i.e five words).

NikT

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#1954366 9-Feb-2018 14:13

This sounds awfully familiar. I suspect this is Apple’s doing.

Question - as this is your work phone, did you previously use an iPhone for work? Or perhaps more crucially, has your work mobile number ever been used on an iPhone before? If so, it may still be registered for iMessage, which will cause iPhones to send text messages intended for you into the Apple-branded ether.

This will vary depending on whether iMessage is switched on for the sender’s iPhone.

Conveniently, and to their credit, they now have .an online tool to deregiater a phone number from iMessage. It requires receiving a confirmation code by text. Suggest doing this as your first port of call.

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bradstewart

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#1954393 9-Feb-2018 15:02

NikT: This sounds awfully familiar. I suspect this is Apple’s doing.

Question - as this is your work phone, did you previously use an iPhone for work? Or perhaps more crucially, has your work mobile number ever been used on an iPhone before? If so, it may still be registered for iMessage, which will cause iPhones to send text messages intended for you into the Apple-branded ether.

This will vary depending on whether iMessage is switched on for the sender’s iPhone.

Conveniently, and to their credit, they now have .an online tool to deregiater a phone number from iMessage. It requires receiving a confirmation code by text. Suggest doing this as your first port of call.

Oh this old thing. Was always a pain to diagnose. Messages sent via iMessage wouldn't arrive but when the sender was falling back to SMS they would. Horribly inconsistent issue then.

rynevsn

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#1954580 9-Feb-2018 22:09

Yes, I do own an iPhone and have used iMessage in the past. TBH I perefer iPhones, but I require an Android app made by work (they can't be bothered with the approvals required by the App Store for an iOS version).

I had deregistered my iMessage properly and hadn't used iMessage for almost five months - I just did the online tool and it said the number wasn't registered. Problems have only started occurring in the last month.

tripper1000

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#1955688 12-Feb-2018 13:11

I'm not a guru in these things, but have you removed and reinstalled the 3rd party apps?

In the past (on Nexus 4's) I have seen issues (with non SMS apps), where a brand new version of Android was trying use old app's saved to the phone that were for an older version of android. Once the cache was wiped, and the app re-downloaded the problems went away.