mms conversion, charging a

[Eurosceptiv]

Hi

Have done some research (this forum and wider) but going to take the 

[XRaySpeX · Accepted solution]

Not entirely! @bristolian in the very 1st response to your thread only referred to sending MMS using your phone's messaging app.

 If you were charged 93p for sending a picture you must have been sending it by the standard default messaging app , not iMessage or any other similar data app.

[bristolian]

This is potentially a scenario where understanding where the demarcation between the Apple ecosystem, and the mobile network, matters. I don't use Apple but I wonder if there's a facility for the user to default to sending messages using "method A" (in this case, iMessage), but for the phone to alter this to "method B" (in this case, text/multimedia messages) if certain criteria are or are not met.

I am surmising here - I don't use Apple and have no intention to start! But nothing would surprise me with iOS, it has enough "quirks" to fill a catalogue,

[Eurosceptiv]

I sent it via IMessage. You kniw blue bubble at my end, blue bubble at recipients’ end. 

I used my iPhone’s “messaging app” to send an iMessage, like I always do. Does the “messaging app” definition only apply when used to send an SMS/MMS? (Android users)

I think we’re dancing on a pin head.

[bristolian]

With Android at least, the default (Samsung) messages app only allows sending messages via the network gateways - so SMS or MMS.

I dabbled with the newer (Google I recall) messages app a while back, but could see it had mechanisms for sending texts via some chat method or other (RCS I suspect) so abandoned it PDQ in the interests of being fully cross-platform compatible. "Messages" means text or MMS, simples! Then use WhatsApp/Messenger/email for photos/videos.

It would not surprise me if Apple's messaging app did a similar thing. I've no idea if the iOS ecosystem even has a choice of messaging apps. I'm sure if Apple had their way, everything possible would be done via their own platforms and the networks would only be used for interacting with non-Apple users.

[Eurosceptiv]

Perhaps I’m the only one on the forum using an iPhone. I think the mechanism for me to stay in the Apple ecosystem is to turn off mms in phone settings. Just guessing, though.

Just need to remember when sending stuff to all the v few Androids in kith n’kin.

Thanks 

[bristolian]

Fellow user @Chris_B uses Apple, he may be along shortly to advise on specifics.

I'm personally quite uncomfortable with any ecosystem that encourages users away from universal cross-platform standards - they tend to exist for a reason. So this may be a config issue - https://support.apple.com/en-gb/104972 gives some info too.

[Chris_B]

@Eurosceptiv  If you have RCS and the receiver has RCS enabled on the device you’ll not incur charges as this is Android version of iMessage.   this can be iPhone to android or android to iPhone. 
If it’s sent via iMessage Apple device to Apple device it’s data only.    The problem with all these services is that both devices need to have a data connection for these services to work that’s cellular or WiFi, if one of the devices doesn’t have a data connections it’ll send as an MMS.   

[Eurosceptiv]

Appreciate that but these were definitely sent as iMessages, blue bubble with text, date sent shown when you swipe to the left etc. I think there’s another (forensic) way of proving these were sent as iMessages. No idea what RCS is, still trying to recover from masterclass on ecosystems and cross platform blah blah. 

(I’m 66, so doing very well for my vintage)

Thanks