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You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > iPhone, iPad & iPod > Verizon and international SMS

Verizon and international SMS
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Cold Warrior
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Mar 8, 2012, 07:16 PM
 
International SMS with my Verizon dumb phone a few years ago was a disaster. Texts wouldn't reach their recipient or deliver to me. This was specifically with Russia, but googling tells me the issue was more widespread and may still be.

Can anyone comment on how Verizon is doing for you sending and delivering SMS with international subscribers?
     
driven
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Mar 9, 2012, 09:19 AM
 
Originally Posted by Cold Warrior View Post
International SMS with my Verizon dumb phone a few years ago was a disaster. Texts wouldn't reach their recipient or deliver to me. This was specifically with Russia, but googling tells me the issue was more widespread and may still be.

Can anyone comment on how Verizon is doing for you sending and delivering SMS with international subscribers?
Sending from EVDO (Sprint & Verizon) to any GSM network has always been a bit dodgy. SMS wasn't even built into EVDO to start with, it was shoehorned into the system in response to it's popularity on GSM. Even then, to send to a GSM network, it has to travel through an SMS aggregator.

Maybe this will get better as Verizon moves to a standard such as LTE. I don't know.
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Cold Warrior  (op)
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Sep 23, 2012, 06:00 AM
 
So I've switched my iPhones to Verizon and of course texting to Russia is still broken. I could really use some recommendations on simple texting solutions, where both parties can send and receive like normal. Quality apps with reliable background notifications would be good too, and in particular ones that don't want to access or upload your address book. The new iOS app store search sucks, and high scoring reviews with no critical reviews aren't trustworthy.
     
driven
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Sep 23, 2012, 06:13 AM
 
Originally Posted by Cold Warrior View Post
So I've switched my iPhones to Verizon and of course texting to Russia is still broken. I could really use some recommendations on simple texting solutions, where both parties can send and receive like normal. Quality apps with reliable background notifications would be good too, and in particular ones that don't want to access or upload your address book. The new iOS app store search sucks, and high scoring reviews with no critical reviews aren't trustworthy.
It turns out that Verizon has kept CDMA for voice calls, even while using LTE for data. (and yes, they still can't do voice & data simultaneously). #FAIL

But anyway: You might want to try using a free Google Voice account. You can download the app to your iPhone and then send the text from the app. Inbound texts will arrive via APNs notifications. That *SHOULD* help. (Afterthought: Not sure if Google Voice is going to charge for International Text)

Another alternative if your destination party has a smartphone: Use WhatsApp. (Sort of like iMessage but cross-platform)
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Cold Warrior  (op)
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Sep 23, 2012, 08:27 AM
 
Google Voice no longer does international sms. Also, my regular recipients don't want or need a Russian data plan and riding their service's SMS backbone ensures it works without wifi. I really want their sms experience to be completely normal (even if sending/receiving appears to be with a different number).

Verizon claims support for a variety of international and Russian providers, but not Megafon. And from reading, even a supported provider is still unreliable.
     
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Sep 23, 2012, 08:35 AM
 
You actually might be better off considering a switch to a GSM provider in that case. (AT&T or T-Mobile are really the only options in North America)
There isn't really a better answer until Sprint and Verizon decide to finally let go of CDMA.
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Nergol
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Sep 23, 2012, 09:58 AM
 
What about an app like TextPlus? That should work, shouldn't it?
     
Cold Warrior  (op)
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Sep 23, 2012, 10:54 AM
 
US and Canada only.

edit: it may work with credits, but the app must have access to your iphone contacts. It will refuse to work without access and it does not maintain its own contacts. That's a massive privacy fail.
     
   
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