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Pixel on Oreo tries to send Int'l SMS every restart - thoughts?

youbme
Deputy Mayor / Adjoint au Maire

Alright folks,

 

This is a weird one. Ever since I upgrade to Android Oreo, my Google Pixel tries to send out int'l SMS everytime I restart the phone. I only know this because I'm on an older plan that has Canada-wide SMS, so I get a bunch of messages from PM telling me "Sorry, we do not offer text messaging outside of Canada at this time" - usually 5 messages.

 

I've tried searching online to see if anyone has encountered a similar issue - but haven't found anything. It isn't a huge issue (only happens when I restart the phone), but I'm concerned something is going on in the background that shouldn't be...

 

71 REPLIES 71

youbme
Deputy Mayor / Adjoint au Maire

This is good suggestion @srlawren, though I was hoping to avoid that...

I only got this phone in June, coming from a OP2 that stopped working on me suddenly, and I tried to be extremely minimal about the apps I installed. However, it wouldn't be a bad idea to just start over and see if that resolves the issue.

srlawren
Retired Oracle / Oracle Retraité

@youbme if I had to guess, I'd say it's a rogue app doing that, rather than Android Oreo itself.  If you have the time and patience, try a factory reset and then when powered back up, don't have it restore all your previous apps.  Try it with just the factory apps installed, reboot a few times, and see if it still does it.  Then try reinstalling your apps one at a time (yikes) and reboot after each one to see when the behaviour recommences.


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@youbme wrote:

Yes, as I stated in in my original post - I have Canada-wide SMS, no international.

 

I'm curious if there are others with older plans like mine that have noticed a similar issue.

 

@computergeek541, do you have any idea how to uncover hidden processes on Android, such as sending an SMS? I've tried a bit, but didn't get very far.


I wouldn't know how to figure out exactly what's happening because so many apps have permissions set to allow making phone calls, sending text messages, using GPS, and the like.

 

I would say that ask a friend or some other Public Mobile customer here who has the same phone as you to check the usage history.  Any outgoing message would show up there.  The number or short-code may give you some clues if you were to search for that number in a Google search.

youbme
Deputy Mayor / Adjoint au Maire

Yes, as I stated in in my original post - I have Canada-wide SMS, no international.

 

I'm curious if there are others with older plans like mine that have noticed a similar issue.

 

@computergeek541, do you have any idea how to uncover hidden processes on Android, such as sending an SMS? I've tried a bit, but didn't get very far.


@passiveegg wrote:

as i said before, best option is to messsage the moderators and see what they say. 


A moderator wouldn't be able to do anything about a phone sending a message out on its own. That's a phone software issue.

 

As for the error message, I suspect the OP only has Canada-wide texting. The phone probably is trying to send a message that is considered international.  Unless the subscriber really does have global text messaging, this isn't an account related issue.

youbme
Deputy Mayor / Adjoint au Maire

@passiveegg, I don't think this warrants immediate attention from the Community Moderators, but if they have some input about it - I'm sure they'll chime in. Thanks!

youbme
Deputy Mayor / Adjoint au Maire

@computergeek541, this is exactly what concerns me! Especially since this was not happening on Nougat - only now with Oreo.

passiveegg
Model Citizen / Citoyen Modèle

as i said before, best option is to messsage the moderators and see what they say. 

Honestly, it's possible that the manufactuer or Google is doing something shady here, whether it's collecting information about your phone number, name, e-mail addresses, operating system version, app usage, etc.  The shady part is doing it wihtout the user knowing about it.

 

Do you actually only have Canada-wide text messaging?  If that's the case, it would explain the message.  I suspect that if you had a global texting plan, you wouldn't see that error message.  However, that doesn't change the fact that your phone is still sending that message out.

 

I once had a Nokia N8 phone that did that after every factory reset.  It would send some random text message that appeared to be some type of Nokia server.  To add the sneakiness, there would be no trace of the message in the outbox.  At the time, I was Wind, and thought it might have been a billing glitch, but then I was able to reproduce it and was billed for an international text message each and every time I wiped the device.  I researched the short code that I was being charged for sending a message to, and it was really in fact a Nokia number. 

 

The message itself isn't really the issue, but the potential charges and the sending of the message without consent (or supposed consent that is burried through legal agreements that almost no one ever readds), is.  I suspect Google is doing something similar to what Nokia was.

youbme
Deputy Mayor / Adjoint au Maire

@passiveegg

Very likely you have a more recent PM plan (?) that includes international text messaging - so you would not notice this issue (the SMS would go through normally). The only reason I am aware of it is because I do not have international messaging, so I receive a text from 611 (Public Mobile) saying that my SMS did not go through.

passiveegg
Model Citizen / Citoyen Modèle

From what I read, it just seems to be a hardware issue with your google pixel because my pixel is in oreo right now and i have not come accross this problem. try restarting your phone and taking your sim card out. you can always ask the @CS_Agent for help if nothing is helping. 

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