Group MMS -Android and iPhone users

[Edward42]

Hi Everyone, I discovered in early January that I am no longer able to send group MMS messages to android and iphone contacts. I have an iPhone 7+, iOS 12.1.2, Carrier version 35.0 I have done all the little things, restarted, turned off messages, remove/reseat the SIM, etc. I was able to send group MMS messages as normal using an old iPhone 6s, iOS 12.1.2, Carrier version 34.0 (using the same SIM card). An internet search leads me to believe that Bell is blocking group MMS on their network in favor of Andriod Advanced Messaging. I have two questions:

1) Does anyone know how to revert to a previous carrier version?

2) Will Public Mobile be bringing back support for group MMS?  

-Thanks in advance for any assistance, I appreciate your help. 

[Anonymous]

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@stonechucker wrote:

@Anonymous, broadcast TV doesn't work when you can't receive a signal due to being too far away from the source *OR* being in the wrong inside corner of a U shaped building without exposure to broadcast signals.

Oh well, I have Amazon FireTV 4K, I have enough options there lol 

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Yes and so does cell reception have the same problems. But we're here. Both work from the last century. I was just qupping about will13am's comment.

[stonechucker]

@Anonymous, broadcast TV doesn't work when you can't receive a signal due to being too far away from the source *OR* being in the wrong inside corner of a U shaped building without exposure to broadcast signals.

Oh well, I have Amazon FireTV 4K, I have enough options there lol 

[Anonymous]

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@will13am wrote:

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@popping wrote:

[Slightly off topic]

My family members has switched to use WhatsApp for group text and MMS because we use iPhone and Android phones.  All we need is WiFi to work especially during travel.

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It is amazing how this archaic 20th century platform that should have remained in the last century has more lives than a cat. 

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Well...y'know....broadcast tv still works fine. Mostly in full HD too.

[will13am]

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@popping wrote:

[Slightly off topic]

My family members has switched to use WhatsApp for group text and MMS because we use iPhone and Android phones.  All we need is WiFi to work especially during travel.

---

It is amazing how this archaic 20th century platform that should have remained in the last century has more lives than a cat. 

[CalgaryBen]

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@Edward42 wrote:

1) Does anyone know how to revert to a previous carrier version?

2) Will Public Mobile be bringing back support for group MMS?  

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I don't use group MMS myself, so can't speak to support/blocking of that feature.  However, as you cited, the carrier profile (AKA carrier bundle) does seem to have a collection of settings that controls group MMS, according to this reference.

I don't have first-hand experience in reverting back the carrier profile (never needed/desired to!), and I'm not entirely sure how easy it is in iOS 12 since I can't locate the .xml file which provides URLs for the iOS 12 compatible .ipcc files.

Having said that, let me describe the gist of what you'd need to do.  You'll probably need to enable Carrier Testing Mode first, described here.  Then, through some Googling, you may find the right Public Mobile 34.0 .ipcc, which you could then load via iTunes on a PC or Mac.

itunes.com/version redirects you to a very large .xml file (so large that some browsers may have trouble rendering it, so be warned) which (used to) contain all the latest carrier bundles.  If you can view it, you can search for a carrier of interest and the corresponding iOS version, and if you're lucky you'll find the .ipcc file.  It looks something like this:

<key>11.0</key>

<dict>

<key>BuildVersion</key>

<string>29.1</string>

<key>BundleURL</key>

<string>

http://appldnld.apple.com/ios11.0/carrierbundles/091-30103-20170919-DCD890A2-94AD-11E7-9E32-0A79005D...

</string>

<key>Digest</key>

<data> fwfosfaFigRdN44Xhm3aHo7JyQw= </data>

</dict>

The above tells us that for iOS 11.0, the highest carrier profile for Public Mobile is 29.1, and it can be downloaded using the URL provided (EDIT: the forum software truncates the URL above, but the file being sought is Telus_PublicMobile_ca_iPhone.ipcc) ... once downloaded onto your desktop machine, you would use iTunes to load it when you connect your iPhone.

I don't know if iOS 12 uses a different mechanism (and I haven't done much searching), but the usual means as described above doesn't seem to reveal the whereabouts of the Public Mobile 34.x or 35.x profiles.

Don't know if this helps or just makes things more confusing... it's meant to provide you a few stepping stones and set your expectations for the scope of work involved in doing this (unless there's an easier way through a tool that someone's developed, which is quite possible).  An iOS developer (which I'm far from) might be able to shed more light on the topic!

Good luck!

[srlawren]

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@popping wrote:

[Slightly off topic]

My family members has switched to use WhatsApp for group text and MMS because we use iPhone and Android phones.  All we need is WiFi to work especially during travel.

---

@popping I move as many people to WhatsApp as possible.  There are a few stubborn iPhone users that refuse to run another messaging app/use anything but iMessage.  Very frustrating.  As a further aside, I actually wish Apple would bring iMessage to Android so we could have a defacto true cross-platform IM system.  I don't care if it's from Apple or not, we just need something, and iMessage would have it within weeks of bringing it to the Google Play Store.  That said, there is recent talk that Apple is working to support RCS in iOS! This would mean that iMessage app could do iMessage-to-iMessage for iOS users, iMessage-to-RCS for Android users (whose carriers supports RCS), and finally fall back to SMS/MMS if neither of those work. This would be very exciting.... ....provided the Telus family pull the rears out of their butts and start offering RCS across their 3 brands.  

[srlawren]

@Edward42 there is an iOS 12 bug that prevents at least some models from sending MMS.  I bet that's the culprit here.  If that's right, you'll have to wait for Apple to fix it.  That is unless @CalgaryBen has any other suggestions?

[popping]

[Slightly off topic]

My family members has switched to use WhatsApp for group text and MMS because we use iPhone and Android phones.  All we need is WiFi to work especially during travel.

[Luddite]

@Edward42 Have never used group messaging but be sure your message settings are correct:

Settings >> Messages >> iMessage ON, Send as SMS ON, MMS ON, Group message ON >> Send & Receive should show both your PM phone number and Apple email address.

As far as I know there is no way to roll back the carrier profile.

[ShawnC13]

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@Edward42 wrote:

Hi Everyone, I discovered in early January that I am no longer able to send group MMS messages to android and iphone contacts. I have an iPhone 7+, iOS 12.1.2, Carrier version 35.0 I have done all the little things, restarted, turned off messages, remove/reseat the SIM, etc. I was able to send group MMS messages as normal using an old iPhone 6s, iOS 12.1.2, Carrier version 34.0 (using the same SIM card). An internet search leads me to believe that Bell is blocking group MMS on their network in favor of Andriod Advanced Messaging. I have two questions:

1) Does anyone know how to revert to a previous carrier version?

2) Will Public Mobile be bringing back support for group MMS?  

-Thanks in advance for any assistance, I appreciate your help. 

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I haven't been an iOS user for like 5 years so I am going to tag @CalgaryBen, any ideas on what this issue could be or how to resolve it?

[stonechucker]

@Alex888, iPhones do not have the ability to update the APN to include these settings.

@Edward42, do you have sp.mb.com listed or isp.mb.com?  Both should work, and I've used both previously on my Android devices.

[Alex888]

Check your APN settings it should be:

Name: CA - Public Mobile MMS

APN: sp.mb.com

Authentication Type: PAP

APN Type: mms

If it's not identical, add it as another APN