Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

RedStar · Oct 8, 2007, 12:16 PM

Quick question before I finally take the plunge on the iPhone.

I'm on the subway frequently, so I often have no signal while typing messages (to send once above ground). Do any iPhone owners know if the phone will wait to send the message when a signal is restored, or does it act like my Windows Mobile Smartphone and just give me an error until I resend outside.

Not a dealbreaker, but something that I have been wondering about before purchasing.

butterfly0fdoom · Oct 8, 2007, 12:33 PM

SMS uses cellular signals. If you have no signal, you can't send an SMS.

analogue SPRINKLES · Oct 8, 2007, 01:25 PM

Originally Posted by butterfly0fdoom

SMS uses cellular signals. If you have no signal, you can't send an SMS.

Well duh but that wasn't what he was asking.

To answer your question as far as I remember the iPhone just gives you an error message which sucks because my Blackberry was smart enough to just put them in an outbox until it got a signal.

mdc · Oct 8, 2007, 01:31 PM

Yeah, it's a small issue I have. Emails will be put in an Outbox to be sent later, but SMSs won't.

RedStar · Oct 8, 2007, 01:37 PM

Thanks for the replies.

That's one thing that has always annoyed me about my Motorola Q. I like to type out a couple of messages and have them sent later - not have a big fat error that makes me have to navigate to the drafts folder and back.

Like I said, not a deal breaker, but I would have expected more from Apple.

nonhuman · Oct 8, 2007, 02:15 PM

Hopefully we'll get that feature in a future update.

analogue SPRINKLES · Oct 8, 2007, 04:28 PM

even worse I have sent a text message and before the progress bar is done I hit the home button to do something else. Later I go back to the SMS app. and find an error message that it couldn't send the SMS for whatever reason. Problem is it never warns me anywhere else within the OS unless I go looking for it.

jokell82 · Oct 9, 2007, 07:53 AM

The worst part is if the message doesn't send, it isn't saved anywhere if you leave that screen. So you can either sit there until you get a signal and then hit send again, or lose the message you just wrote.

Not having an SMS outbox is the only real issue I have with my iPhone now...

chriswithpepper · Oct 9, 2007, 12:59 PM

Originally Posted by jokell82

The worst part is if the message doesn't send, it isn't saved anywhere if you leave that screen. So you can either sit there until you get a signal and then hit send again, or lose the message you just wrote.

I disagree about losing the message. Unsent or failed messages remain in the input box until you are ready to send them. You will only lose your message if you exit that conversation and re-enter, from within the SMS menu.

If you start to type something, then hit the home button and do anything from there, you will not lose your message.

If you begin to type and hit 'back' to look at another conversation, then resume the previous one, your message will be lost.

Just tested this right now.

Tomchu · Oct 9, 2007, 01:06 PM

Even my RAZR put SMS messages in an Outbox and kept retrying on its own until the message went through.

Earth Mk. II · Oct 9, 2007, 01:10 PM

Originally Posted by chriswithpepper

I disagree about losing the message. Unsent or failed messages remain in the input box until you are ready to send them. You will only lose your message if you exit that conversation and re-enter, from within the SMS menu.

True, but that's not particularly helpful when trying to queue more than one message.

I really don't see why the iPhone can't just queue the message, and give some form of feedback in the message thread that the message hasn't been sent yet, like ghosting the chat bubble or similar.

chriswithpepper · Oct 9, 2007, 01:17 PM

True, Earth Mk. II. Apple must have just assumed we'd always been within signal range. I expect this slight SMS change among other subtle changes in the next update.

analogue SPRINKLES · Oct 9, 2007, 01:27 PM

Originally Posted by chriswithpepper

True, Earth Mk. II. Apple must have just assumed we'd always been within signal range. I expect this slight SMS change among other subtle changes in the next update.

They never heard of subways or Airplane mode?

Earth Mk. II · Oct 9, 2007, 01:40 PM

Originally Posted by chriswithpepper

True, Earth Mk. II. Apple must have just assumed we'd always been within signal range. I expect this slight SMS change among other subtle changes in the next update.

I do not expect this kind of change anytime in the near future. Apple has yet to allow canceling a SMS being sent, or sending a SMS with multiple recipients.

I just rattled a possible UI method off the top of my head - I have no idea how clearly and globally that would actually represent a queued/unsent message vs. a sent one.

RedStar · Oct 9, 2007, 08:47 PM

This seems really strange behavior for apple to take with regards to SMS. Cellphones have had this feature for a while now.

Despite all this, I have had it with my Q, which yet again did not charge last night (even though it said it was charging...), so I'll be an iPhone owner by the end of the week.

I'll be writing a suggestion letter to sJobs tonight though

Earth Mk. II · Oct 9, 2007, 09:04 PM

also: Apple - iPhone - Feedback

AC Rempt · Oct 10, 2007, 01:53 AM

I'm definitely sending them some feedback on their texting app. I know this is a v.1 machine, but honestly, SMS is hardly groundbreaking tech. Not only do we need to have an Outbox, but also copying and pasting (needed system wise), multiple recipients, and a place to store frequently sent messages like "Thanks" or "Call me."

This is all old news, I know, but keep letting Apple know it's an issue. We want a fully functional SMS app!

And then there's MMS . . .