cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

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

srlawren
Retired Oracle / Oracle Retraité

@rockyon wrote:

quote the whole sentence. I said 3 devices already reported in the forum having same issues.

Don't quote just partially you look like gossip channel


@rockyon I generally try to quote only as much as I am responding to at the time.  I understand that multiple devices have reported this.  My response would not have changed if it were 1 device of 200 devices.  In other words:  the number of devices reporting this issue wasn't relevan to my reponse, so I didn't include it.  I don't think it's relevant to the issue.

 

The issuse are: PM doesn't offer visual voicemail so the phone doesn't need to keep checking, which in itself would be non-issue if everyone had an unlimited number of texts in their plans.  

 

EDIT: I accidentally left the word "visual" out above.  Oops!


>>> ALERT: I am not a moderator. For account or activation assistance, please click here.

rockyon
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

quote the whole sentence. I said 3 devices already reported in the forum having same issues.

Don't quote just partially you look like gossip channel

srlawren
Retired Oracle / Oracle Retraité

@rockyon wrote:

i had used rogers before with pixel and no problem at all

i think the problem is PM


@rockyon the "problem" is two fold:  1) PM does not offer visual voicemail, so your phone checking for it is quite redundant--but other than revoking that sms permission, there's really no way to tell your phone not to bother; and 2) PM is offering plans with metered outgoing sms messages, which should not be a thing in 2019.  


>>> ALERT: I am not a moderator. For account or activation assistance, please click here.

rockyon
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

so there are 3 devices already

pixel 2

one plus 5

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Getting-Started/Didn-t-send-SMS-only-received-one-but...

samsung galaxy S9

i had used rogers before with pixel and no problem at all

i think the problem is PM

__

i thought the previous method which is to disable "sms" permission on the telephone app works, but periodically the permission switch back to allow "sms".

so there is no solution yet for me

Anonymous
Not applicable

@JennLynn wrote:

Thanks for the suggestions. I’m sure there is a setting that will fix it - but i need to know which setting that is! I have tried to find visual voicemail in my phone settings, but it simply isn't there (I am on a Samsung Galaxy phone, though - not a Pixel) and don’t want to just turn things on and off randomly either. I’m not an Android expert (nor are most clients, I expect) but I don’t have any additional calling/texting apps installed - just the stock Samsung and Google apps that came with the phone. From what I’ve read though it seems to only occur with Public Mobile. Anyway, hope someone figures it out and makes a lot of users happy. 

(Attached is a pic of my voicemail settings menu - there is no visual voicemail option, and the one and only thing under voicemail settings is the voicemail phone number - 14385804001)


Can you find Settings then Apps then whatever the dialer is called and then Permissions and see an SMS option?

Edit: I see you did find it in the dialer and it didn't help. Maybe check all your other apps to see if any of them unnecessarily have SMS on.

JennLynn
Great Neighbour / Super Voisin

Thanks for the suggestions. I’m sure there is a setting that will fix it - but i need to know which setting that is! I have tried to find visual voicemail in my phone settings, but it simply isn't there (I am on a Samsung Galaxy phone, though - not a Pixel) and don’t want to just turn things on and off randomly either. I’m not an Android expert (nor are most clients, I expect) but I don’t have any additional calling/texting apps installed - just the stock Samsung and Google apps that came with the phone. From what I’ve read though it seems to only occur with Public Mobile. Anyway, hope someone figures it out and makes a lot of users happy. 

(Attached is a pic of my voicemail settings menu - there is no visual voicemail option, and the one and only thing under voicemail settings is the voicemail phone number - 14385804001)3F02D0A6-D1D0-4A35-A7EC-6FC80727E852.jpeg

olivierg
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

Personally, I changed provider two weeks ago after being ignored by support for over a month on this issue. Public Mobile is the only provider counting those sms, so any other provider is fine (I know there isn't any equivalent plan, though), I changed for Fizz (Quebec only) and confirmed that they don't count these sms. For similar usage, Telus' "Talk & Text 100" (400 min, 400 sms, 100$ for a year) or Petro-Mobility's Anytime Plan would have been my alternatives.

 

Suggesting to change for an unlimited plan is paying Public Mobile for something we don't use because Public Mobile refuses to fix a billing issue. At that point, it's just a question of principle and that's why I changed provider even though it costs more (I do have 3x the data for the same price though).

 

I'm not sure if the answer to "talk to Google" was sarcastic or not, but having the biggest mobile operating system developer in the world change something rather than having the only (and one of the samllest) provider in Canada with this problem to fix something is... I don't know. Anyway, it's not just Google, but Samsung (again, largest smartphone manufacturer in the world), Xiaomi, ...

 

Changing permission didn't work for me either (Samsung Galaxy S9 with Android Pie\One UI) and last reported problem was also with a Samsung phone (Note 9 with Android Pie). 5 sms sent after every restart, just don't restart too often is the official answer I guess...

youbme
Deputy Mayor / Adjoint au Maire

@JennLynn wrote:

Really hope this gets resolved soon. I’m on the basic plan (50 texts) and so far this month I apparently have "sent" 30 texts ... although in reality I haven’t actually sent a single one myself! Seems to be multiple texts sent every time my phone (an almost new Note 9 running Android Pie) updates and/or restarts. I tried turning off SMS in my phone dialer but it didn’t make a difference. Short of disabling messages - which is ridiculous - I’m out of ideas. Maybe Public Mobile should just give everyone unlimited texting at least until they fix the issue. It’s my biggest peeve so far (I’ve only been a subscriber for three months) and is making me reconsider my choice. (My other peeve is that blocked numbers can still leave voicemails - and use my limited minutes. But I don’t think that’s exclusively a PM problem whereas the "sent" texts seems to be.) Any help/advice will be gratefully appreciated. 


 

Have you already tried disabling visual voicemail as explained in this post?

(Scroll down to the solution post from @NDesai )

 

As already mentioned, this has nothing to do with public mobile, other than the specific plan which limits the number of texts you have. I agree that it's ridiculous, but I would say that the unlimited text plan is a much better value now and makes this a non-issue.

 

 

 

Anonymous
Not applicable

@JennLynn wrote:

Really hope this gets resolved soon. I’m on the basic plan (50 texts) and so far this month I apparently have "sent" 30 texts ... although in reality I haven’t actually sent a single one myself! Seems to be multiple texts sent every time my phone (an almost new Note 9 running Android Pie) updates and/or restarts. I tried turning off SMS in my phone dialer but it didn’t make a difference. Short of disabling messages - which is ridiculous - I’m out of ideas. Maybe Public Mobile should just give everyone unlimited texting at least until they fix the issue. It’s my biggest peeve so far (I’ve only been a subscriber for three months) and is making me reconsider my choice. (My other peeve is that blocked numbers can still leave voicemails - and use my limited minutes. But I don’t think that’s exclusively a PM problem whereas the "sent" texts seems to be.) Any help/advice will be gratefully appreciated. 


 @RobertQc is correct in understanding what I've said about voicemail minutes and others who have tested it.

The texts are being sent by your phone. There's a permissions setting in their somewhere that stops it from sending them.


@JennLynn wrote:

Really hope this gets resolved soon. I’m on the basic plan (50 texts) and so far this month I apparently have "sent" 30 texts ... although in reality I haven’t actually sent a single one myself! Seems to be multiple texts sent every time my phone (an almost new Note 9 running Android Pie) updates and/or restarts. I tried turning off SMS in my phone dialer but it didn’t make a difference. Short of disabling messages - which is ridiculous - I’m out of ideas. Maybe Public Mobile should just give everyone unlimited texting at least until they fix the issue. It’s my biggest peeve so far (I’ve only been a subscriber for three months) and is making me reconsider my choice. (My other peeve is that blocked numbers can still leave voicemails - and use my limited minutes. But I don’t think that’s exclusively a PM problem whereas the "sent" texts seems to be.) Any help/advice will be gratefully appreciated. 


@JennLynn  It's not public mobiles fault, its googles fault, if you have a problem with it talk to them.

 

Pay $15 a month for unlimitmed texting. Or contact the mods and ask them to not count those message.

 

@Anonymous  has advised me when people leave you voicemail, it costs you zero minutes. (IT shows up as minutes in usage history but 0 minutes are deducted from your limit)

 

If you are talking about when you check messages then use a free voip line to check voicemail. Blocking a number on your phone is not going to prevent it from going to voicemail if you switch companies either

 

If you want to prevent blocked numbers from leaving you voicemail install pf voicemail+ or something simlar.

 

 

JennLynn
Great Neighbour / Super Voisin

Really hope this gets resolved soon. I’m on the basic plan (50 texts) and so far this month I apparently have "sent" 30 texts ... although in reality I haven’t actually sent a single one myself! Seems to be multiple texts sent every time my phone (an almost new Note 9 running Android Pie) updates and/or restarts. I tried turning off SMS in my phone dialer but it didn’t make a difference. Short of disabling messages - which is ridiculous - I’m out of ideas. Maybe Public Mobile should just give everyone unlimited texting at least until they fix the issue. It’s my biggest peeve so far (I’ve only been a subscriber for three months) and is making me reconsider my choice. (My other peeve is that blocked numbers can still leave voicemails - and use my limited minutes. But I don’t think that’s exclusively a PM problem whereas the "sent" texts seems to be.) Any help/advice will be gratefully appreciated. 

olivierg
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

I've had the same problem: 49 sms sent in a 4-day period to 7723. It stopped simply because I ran out of sms in my 50 min\sms plan.

Device is a Samsung Galaxy S9, started right after the Android Pie (One UI) update. And again after a minor update 2 weeks later.

So, one week in my monthly plan, I couldn't send any sms. And no notification or "delivery failed" status either (using Android Messages as texting app), so I've been sending texts for the past 2 weeks without knowing that they weren't delivered. This may be another issue though.

It seems fine now, I removed the dialer's sms access, didn’t find the visual voicemail setting in my app though. A moderator also credited back 50 sms, so it's working again.

 

It may be the OS or the device or the dialer's fault, but, I mean, Android has about 85% market share (or around 50%, not sure, but iOS users have had similar problems with Public Mobile anyway with new devices), I have the stock dialer and we've seen this with the following manufacturers: Samsung, Google, Xiaomi, OnePlus, ... So probably not hardware related, but software. And Public Mobile may only be the provider, but the service is used mostly on these kind of devices (i.e. smartphones).

 

But what is surprising is that Public Mobile seems to be the only provider with that problem. I haven't looked through other providers' forums, but I wouldn't be surprised at all if Public Mobile is the only one. I have been with Rogers prepaid for over 10 years and never paid for this. Asked someone who is currently with Rogers prepaid with the exact same device and update and nothing was charged. At the rate those were sent and the average price for sms with prepaid service in Canada, it's around 100$/month (12*30*0.30$), again, pretty sure no customer from any other company would pay this and there are nearly 4 million prepaid customers in Canada, a bit more if we include all on postpaid with a limited texting plan.

 

How many clients have a limited sms plan with Public Mobile and how many have a recent\updated Android OS (7+) on a 8$/month plan? It may not be a common problem, but it exists nonetheless.

 

These sms aren't sent to other clients (10-digit number), what we typically refer to when subscribing to a texting plan, but system ones, probably sent to the provider, as it seems to be for visual voicemail, and this is a provider's functionality. So, if it's true that these are only send from the device to the provider (i.e.: Public Mobile), when we have a plan that says "50 outgoing sms", is it from the device to the provider or from the provider to a destination number (same or different provider)? I think a good case could be made for the latter. Not sure if it's a good analogy, but IPTV providers are not counting the terminals' usage when the traffic doesn't leave the network.

 

And even Public Mobile doesn't seem to know in it's own systems. It logs them differently by identifying the "usage type" as "minutes" rather than "sms". I started another thread about the notifications, apparently, other clients get sms from 611 when usage reaches a certain level. I didn't get it. So, in my opinion, the notification system is not counting them, but billing system is. I'm pretty sure there is a problem somewhere. At the minimum, consistency would be appreciated.

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Plans-Add-Ons/Notification-when-out-of-SMS/m-p/331737...

 

I think that Public Mobile should make the distinction, it should be doable as they are already identified differently in usage history, just the fact that all other providers in Canada seems to be doing it differently should be sufficient.


@drsiha wrote:

There is no such SMS sent according to detailed log. It has nothing to do with 'Unlimited SMS'.


These types of message don't show up in your message history.  The Android software sending these mesaages is a well known fact.  And it has everything to do with unlimited sms because when you have that, you won't care they were sent.  This is Google and device company fault.

drsiha
Great Citizen / Super Citoyen

There is no such SMS sent according to detailed log. It has nothing to do with 'Unlimited SMS'.


@drsiha wrote:

I also have a SIM from Koodo, which also sits on the same device (Oneplus 5T) with Public Mobile. Visual Voicemail is set to 'ON' by default, but I don't add the service. I checked the detailed log. Guess what? It didn't send such SMS. So, I now believe it is Public Mobie to be blamed.


How can you blame the carrier for phone sending a mesaage?

 

My guess the mesaage gets sent on Koodo too but the Koodo plan could be unlimited so doesn't matter.

Anonymous
Not applicable

@drsiha wrote:

I also have a SIM from Koodo, which also sits on the same device (Oneplus 5T) with Public Mobile. Visual Voicemail is set to 'ON' by default, but I don't add the service. I checked the detailed log. Guess what? It didn't send such SMS. So, I now believe it is Public Mobie to be blamed.


If you're not on the $10 plan then you wouldn't need to care beyond a curiosity.

I believe there's a permissions setting or something in the dialer to turn off sending an SMS.

drsiha
Great Citizen / Super Citoyen

I also have a SIM from Koodo, which also sits on the same device (Oneplus 5T) with Public Mobile. Visual Voicemail is set to 'ON' by default, but I don't add the service. I checked the detailed log. Guess what? It didn't send such SMS. So, I now believe it is Public Mobie to be blamed.

Anonymous
Not applicable

@drsiha wrote:

Surprised and shocked by this issue.

 

Can Public Mobile waive these msg usage?


I've read some mention of some kind of back ground whitelist thing they could do...but why should they? It's the phone doing it...not them.


@drsiha wrote:

Surprised and shocked by this issue.

 

Can Public Mobile waive these msg usage?


They might do it as one time thing to keep customer happy but as a official policy, why?  The messages do get sent.

drsiha
Great Citizen / Super Citoyen

Surprised and shocked by this issue.

 

Can Public Mobile waive these msg usage?


@keithm wrote:

It's not really an issue for me since I have unlimited international texts, but I am curious to know why the dialer app would be sending these.


It is because it wants to verify Visual Voicemail service. If your provider offers that service, it will probably send one text to successfully verify the service. But if your carrier does not offer it, it sends multiple texts to that number. And it will do that on every reboot. 

______________________________________________________________________
I am not a mod. Do not send me private message with your personal info.
If you need to contact PM Customer Support Agent, send a Private Message.


@yiszheng wrote:

Is there any way to disable the VVM detection after the restart? That is the root cause of the issue.


Not sure why you can't see that option. But I am starring at that right now. It is found in Dialer phone settings > Voicemail > Visual Voicemail. As long as you have the latest dialer app, the option should be there. 

______________________________________________________________________
I am not a mod. Do not send me private message with your personal info.
If you need to contact PM Customer Support Agent, send a Private Message.

keithm
Great Neighbour / Super Voisin

I just signed up to PM today, using a brand new OnePlus 6T and ported a number from Rogers and I'm also seeing these texts to 7723.

It's not really an issue for me since I have unlimited international texts, but I am curious to know why the dialer app would be sending these.

srlawren
Retired Oracle / Oracle Retraité

@funtek my understanding is that they are not allowed to whitelist certain services due to net neutrality requirements.  The real solution is to not offer metered texting plans that sounded more appropriate in 2001 than in 2019.  


>>> ALERT: I am not a moderator. For account or activation assistance, please click here.

funtek
Great Neighbour / Super Voisin

The real solution is to have Public Mobile not count these system configuration messages as SMS messages on the $10 plan. It clearly says the messages to 7723 are using 'minutes' in the billing area, but that is not reflected in the SMS usage count.

 

Having every android user disable a default setting on their phone is not a real solution.

yiszheng
Great Neighbour / Super Voisin

Is there any way to disable the VVM detection after the restart? That is the root cause of the issue.

srlawren
Retired Oracle / Oracle Retraité

@stonechucker the SMS messages that Google Dialer sends out are related to it trying to determine if VVM is available


>>> ALERT: I am not a moderator. For account or activation assistance, please click here.

But what does visual voice mail matter, as Public Mobile doesn’t offer this service?

yiszheng
Great Neighbour / Super Voisin

Hello, my Pixel XL recieved the latest Dec 2018 update. As usual, I went to phone app permission and disabled the message permission. However, I found that I can not sent or receive any the message out.

There is also no visual voicemail item under phone app setting. Thus, disabling visual voicemail solution doesn't work.

 

What I finally figured out is to diable/re-enable the message permission under message app. It then fixed the issue. No sure if other people see the same issue. Hope that it helps.


@rockyon wrote:

Yes Jinjangbesi method works!

Disable "messages" permission for "phone" app

in app setting


Turning off Visual Voicemail option in Phone app should also work. 

______________________________________________________________________
I am not a mod. Do not send me private message with your personal info.
If you need to contact PM Customer Support Agent, send a Private Message.

Need Help? Let's chat.