Some text messages only recveived when Wifi is on

[G6]

I have a Moto G6 Play (Android Pie) and find some people can message me fine when WiFi is off but others only appear when i turn WiFi back on. I turn off WiFi before bed because it drains the battery quickly. Also i only have 250MB of data so don't turn it on when outside the home and away from WiFi unless i need data for a specific task.

For those whose messages i don't get until WiFi is back on the message has the current time as the sent time even if they sent it hours earlier.

Any idea what is going on and how to fix this?

[G6]

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@darlicious wrote:

@G6 

Lol.....that reminds me of an Elton John greatest hits cd we were so sick of hearing at this restaurant in london uk that a friend and I worked at.......she secretly stole it and whipped it off the front of the ferry in the middle of the irish sea!

Save a twoonie a day for the next 2 to 3 months and youve got a brand new phone! Mine was $180 (U$119/$249 now) from B&H the exchange rate would make it $10 cheaper today. No longer on sale but a few deals depending on your price range pixel 3XL 64GB $299, moto one action 128GB $199.

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Unfortunately my budget can't swallow this very sensible idea so no new phone anytime soon 😞

[G6]

An update, turning off the "Enable chat feature" solved the problem.

Nothing was changed on the other person's end, just on my end.

I don't know if they have chat features enabled but turning mine off has fixed it so i am happy with that.

[esjliv]

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@G6 wrote:

@AnonymousThis happens even with a simple "Hey whats up" message

@esjliv 

The chat features was on, so i have turned it off.

Thanks

I do not understand how i will now receive texts when i wasn't before while chat features was enabled but WiFi was off, does this setting change something on Public Mobile's side?

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HI @G6 ,

This could be your issue. IF the person sending you texts have the Chat Feature on their phone, they will not be able to receive/send when not in wifi either (if they do not have DATA on their plan).

IT is a strange feature. But I ran into problems just like this and I turned it off. Never had those issues again.

[Anonymous]

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@will13am wrote:

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@darlicious wrote:

@will13am 

Except it does use data and requires data for use whereas SMS/MMS only requires data to be enabled. For many (not pm) this could cause overages on their phone bill.

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Judging by the popularity and proliferation of data based chat apps, I guess we can bin this in the first world problem bin?  

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And it's not a Public Mobile problem either. And darlicious...SMS doesn't need data. Only MMS.

[will13am]

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@darlicious wrote:

@will13am 

Except it does use data and requires data for use whereas SMS/MMS only requires data to be enabled. For many (not pm) this could cause overages on their phone bill.

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Judging by the popularity and proliferation of data based chat apps, I guess we can bin this in the first world problem bin?  

[darlicious]

@G6 

Lol.....that reminds me of an Elton John greatest hits cd we were so sick of hearing at this restaurant in london uk that a friend and I worked at.......she secretly stole it and whipped it off the front of the ferry in the middle of the irish sea!

Save a twoonie a day for the next 2 to 3 months and youve got a brand new phone! Mine was $180 (U$119/$249 now) from B&H the exchange rate would make it $10 cheaper today. No longer on sale but a few deals depending on your price range pixel 3XL 64GB $299, moto one action 128GB $199.

[G6]

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@darlicious wrote:

@G6 

Good point I will have to figure out how to delay OS upgrades by 30 days to be aprised

of any issues before I upgrade (if I do.)

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That is a good idea.

It really, really sucks. If i could afford a new phone i would throw this one into Niagara Falls.

[darlicious]

@G6 

Good point I will have to figure out how to delay OS upgrades by 30 days to be aprised of any issues before I upgrade (if I do.)

[darlicious]

@will13am 

Except it does use data and requires data for use whereas SMS/MMS only requires data to be enabled. For many (not pm) this could cause overages on their phone bill.

[G6]

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@darlicious wrote:

@G6 

This is a problem with the g6 after upgrading to pie. Some have had some success using rootlauncher instead of the stock motorola launcher. I recently bought the g7+ and I'm super happy with it.

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I will give rootlauncher a try. However this is a Motorola screwup that they refuse to fix.

And who knows if your G7+ will end up with the same fate.

[will13am]

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@G6 wrote:

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@HALIMACS wrote:

@G6   We didn't try different combinations of only one of us having it on - but I believe the issue only seemingly occurred with BOTH of us had switched it on.

To date, I've just left it off - seems a non useful service to me.

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If my turning it off fixes it thats fine, though i can't understand how that would work, why is wifi needed for me to receive a text based text message unless there is carrier involvement in some manner?

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Let me try to explain this.  SMS and MMS are ancient protocols with extreme limitations in terms of message size and what can be sent.  Various chat apps like Whatsapp, signal, telegram, line, wechat, etc. are far more feature rich.  However, all these chat apps use data, either mobile data or WiFi.  Google came up with RCS as a replacement for SMS and MMS that is designed to replicate the capabilities of the modern chat apps.  RCS cannot run on SMS and MMS protocols.  RCS like the chat apps use data and WiFi.  Personally I have never been a fan of SMS and MMS.  It is an relic that should have been left behind in the previous century.  That said, RCS will come of age once end to end encryption is fully rolled out.  It is why everyone is gravitating to signal.  

[darlicious]

@G6 

RCS isnt text based its data based (like iMessage) so its sent over data which is a different server from what SMS or MMS use. If only one user has RCS enabled it is supposed to convert to SMS. But you should test to see if that holds true if both providers allow RCS. It does if only one provider allows RCS.

[HALIMACS]

@G6 

I would suggest perusing through this article - it's quite good:

Turn on chat features in Messages - Messages Help (google.com)

and

Chat features by Google FAQ - Messages Help

[darlicious]

@G6 

This is a problem with the g6 after upgrading to pie. Some have had some success using rootlauncher instead of the stock motorola launcher. I recently bought the g7+ and I'm super happy with it.

[G6]

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@HALIMACS wrote:

@G6   We didn't try different combinations of only one of us having it on - but I believe the issue only seemingly occurred with BOTH of us had switched it on.

To date, I've just left it off - seems a non useful service to me.

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If my turning it off fixes it thats fine, though i can't understand how that would work, why is wifi needed for me to receive a text based text message unless there is carrier involvement in some manner?

[G6]

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@darlicious wrote:

@G6 

On a different note....do you regularily clear the cache of your apps? Have all the latest security patches and software updates? Could help with your lag issues....

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I have tried it all, its a phone bug, even a factory reset doesn't help. Its been happening since they upgraded it to Pie.

They seem to have f-ed up the fork or borked it intentionally.

I am very hesitant to ever buy another Motorola phone.

[HALIMACS]

@G6   We didn't try different combinations of only one of us having it on - but I believe the issue only seemingly occurred with BOTH of us had switched it on.

To date, I've just left it off - seems a non useful service to me.

[darlicious]

@G6 

On a different note....do you regularily clear the cache of your apps? Have all the latest security patches and software updates? Could help with your lag issues....

[G6]

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@HALIMACS wrote:

@G6 

Yes, the solution is turning off Chat features, no doubt.  I believe it's an Android feature.

I, and another person, had the same issue where our messages seemingly were only sent/received to each other when connected to Wi-Fi or Data.

We BOTH had chat settings turned on - when we turned them off. (switched to Automatic) -  problem solved.

It is admittedly a strange feature - somewhat similar to iMessage is guess...

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Does the other person have to turn this off on their end as well?

If so that means anyone who has this feature turned on can't text another phone who doesn't have this feature turned on (which is coincidence that i had it on in the first place).

[HALIMACS]

@G6 

Yes, the solution is turning off Chat features, no doubt.  I believe it's an Android feature.

I, and another person, had the same issue where our messages seemingly were only sent/received to each other when connected to Wi-Fi or Data.

We BOTH had chat settings turned on - when we turned them off. (switched to Automatic) -  problem solved.

It is admittedly a strange feature - somewhat similar to iMessage is guess...

[G6]

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@mh1983 wrote:

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@G6 wrote:

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@mh1983 wrote:

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@G6 wrote:

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@darlicious wrote:

@G6 

Youre describing a problem that usually iPhone users describe when they havent enabled SMS/MMS on their phones. Do you have an app like Airmessage that allows you to recieve iMessages?

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I do not have that app. I am a pretty low tech user, old android phone (Pie), using Messages that comes with Android and not many other apps.

And the person i am having this issue with has a Pixel 3.

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Can you both try disabling this setting?

https://help.republicwireless.com/hc/en-us/articles/360022451294-How-to-Disable-the-RCS-Chat-Feature...

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Someone suggested disabling this earlier so i have done it. I will have to wait till they message me again to see if that fixes the problem

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Oops, sorry to have missed that. But yes, hopefully that solves the issue. If not, I'd suggest a restart as well to get a fresh connection.

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If you mean a phone reboot i have to do that every week because the lag is unbearable.

But i will do it right now since i disabled that setting.

[mh1983]

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@G6 wrote:

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@mh1983 wrote:

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@G6 wrote:

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@darlicious wrote:

@G6 

Youre describing a problem that usually iPhone users describe when they havent enabled SMS/MMS on their phones. Do you have an app like Airmessage that allows you to recieve iMessages?

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I do not have that app. I am a pretty low tech user, old android phone (Pie), using Messages that comes with Android and not many other apps.

And the person i am having this issue with has a Pixel 3.

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Can you both try disabling this setting?

https://help.republicwireless.com/hc/en-us/articles/360022451294-How-to-Disable-the-RCS-Chat-Feature...

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Someone suggested disabling this earlier so i have done it. I will have to wait till they message me again to see if that fixes the problem

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Oops, sorry to have missed that. But yes, hopefully that solves the issue. If not, I'd suggest a restart as well to get a fresh connection.

[G6]

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@mh1983 wrote:

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@G6 wrote:

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@darlicious wrote:

@G6 

Youre describing a problem that usually iPhone users describe when they havent enabled SMS/MMS on their phones. Do you have an app like Airmessage that allows you to recieve iMessages?

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I do not have that app. I am a pretty low tech user, old android phone (Pie), using Messages that comes with Android and not many other apps.

And the person i am having this issue with has a Pixel 3.

---

Can you both try disabling this setting?

https://help.republicwireless.com/hc/en-us/articles/360022451294-How-to-Disable-the-RCS-Chat-Feature...

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Someone suggested disabling this earlier so i have done it. I will have to wait till they message me again to see if that fixes the problem

[mh1983]

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@G6 wrote:

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@darlicious wrote:

@G6 

Youre describing a problem that usually iPhone users describe when they havent enabled SMS/MMS on their phones. Do you have an app like Airmessage that allows you to recieve iMessages?

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I do not have that app. I am a pretty low tech user, old android phone (Pie), using Messages that comes with Android and not many other apps.

And the person i am having this issue with has a Pixel 3.

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Can you both try disabling this setting?

https://help.republicwireless.com/hc/en-us/articles/360022451294-How-to-Disable-the-RCS-Chat-Feature...

[G6]

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@darlicious wrote:

@G6 

Youre describing a problem that usually iPhone users describe when they havent enabled SMS/MMS on their phones. Do you have an app like Airmessage that allows you to recieve iMessages?

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I do not have that app. I am a pretty low tech user, old android phone (Pie), using Messages that comes with Android and not many other apps.

And the person i am having this issue with has a Pixel 3.

[mh1983]

Definitely related to RCS messaging if you're using Google Message (it's similar to iMessage): https://www.pocket-lint.com/phones/news/144258-what-is-rcs-messaging-the-messaging-format-set-to-tak...

[darlicious]

@G6 

Youre describing a problem that usually iPhone users describe when they havent enabled SMS/MMS on their phones. Do you have an app like Airmessage that allows you to recieve iMessages?

[G6]

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@computergeek541 wrote:

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@G6 wrote:

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BTW is the accept as a solution only one a thread or can i accept multiple posts as solutions?

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It's one solution per thread.

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@darlicious wrote:

@G6 

Only one....always best to choose the reply that best answers your original question. Sometimes an oracle will split a thread with separate topics within or more than one member that needs dedicated help.

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Glad i asked. I have turned off that chat bit for the texting and i will have to see if that solves the problem, though i still can't understand how any of this works.

[darlicious]

@G6 

Only one....always best to choose the reply that best answers your original question. Sometimes an oracle will split a thread with separate topics within or more than one member that needs dedicated help.

[computergeek541]

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@G6 wrote:

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BTW is the accept as a solution only one a thread or can i accept multiple posts as solutions?

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It's one solution per thread.