What does the Fox say?

[csb]

My S5 is running 6 something, which seems to indicate that you got super hosed at some point. Definitely drive a nail through it. 

 

[knight1fox3]

 

[Dleg]

 

[knight1fox3]

^ I think we found a new slow motion photography opportunity for @wilheldp_PE!

 

[wilheldp_PE]

^ I think we found a new slow motion photography opportunity for @wilheldp_PE!

It's already on the list.  I'm supposed to be 'sploding some lithium batteries at work, and I'll be filming the results in high speed.

 

[leggo PE]

Incredibly frustratingly, I'm about ready to give up on my Pixel 2.

I love everything about this phone, except for one major thing. Since the end of February, I've been experiencing issues with texts. Basically, without rhyme or reason, I'm not getting text messages that are being sent to me. This problem almost always seems to originate in a group message. Say, I send off a group message. Sometimes I'll get replies just fine. Sometimes i'll get part of a reply from someone, but not the rest of it. This will, again sometimes, be accompanied with me getting either undownloadable messages from that person in a one-on-one chat. Sometimes I get undownloadable messages from and "Unknown Sender", which is especially fun, because I never know who actually was trying to text message me. Sometimes I just get undownloadable messages from people when they haven't actually texted me anything, so I have no way to know if it's a past message that is coming through minutes/hours/days/weeks late, or what. This is incredibly annoying. Weeks ago, I spent hours on the phone with AT&T people and Google people. Each one blamed the other, and no one really had a true solution to present. All other communication has been extremely limited, and the only thing I've gotten for all of this trouble was a $15 credit to the Google Play store. Seriously?? That's it for my $1000+ phone? I'd keep this phone, if they found an actual solution!

All of this is chronicled here on Google's community forum: https://productforums.google.com/forum/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer#!msg/phone-by-google/BwyxuNcJj-U/eNf21hXMAgAJ

And here on AT&T's community forum: https://forums.att.com/t5/Android/Not-receiving-messages/td-p/5432425

I've been putting up with this somehow for over two months at this point. I'm not really sure how I've been coping so well, but I basically hit my limit last night.

So now I'm faced with the question: do stay in the Android world and go with the Samsung Galaxy S9 or crawl back to Apple?

/endrant

 

[kevo_55]

I tend to think it's an ATT problem.

I've never had that issue with mine, but I don't use ATT.

IMHO, if I were that pissed I would just get an Iphone. 

 

[leggo PE]

Haha, I've definitely been getting pressure to go back to an iPhone! The facetiming is very convenient. And animoji's are super entertaining!

 

[knight1fox3]

Incredibly frustratingly, I'm about ready to give up on my Pixel 2.

/endrant

I've had multiple people/customers report this issue to me asking if I/KnightFoxPC can help. Want to guess what the common denominator is? They all have AT&T as their service provider. Some had iPhones and some had Android phones. I used to experience intermittent issues similar to what you described when I was on the Cingular/AT&T network. I also had various issues with service quality using AT&T when traveling for work and that became the final straw for me. Since switching to Verizon, I have had ZERO issues with anything SMS or network related. Hell, I even had a decent signal off the coast in the Pacific Ocean on an Alaskan Cruise!

As Kevo pointed out, I'm fairly certain that both Apple and Android have their acts together when it comes to text messaging. But these interfaces are at the mercy of the service provider which acts as a transport for said messaging. You might also consider switching to an after-market texting app (I use Evolve) rather than the stock app. An after-market app will have more options to configure the transport protocol for texting. Some networks (cough-cough AT&T) are VERY particular when it comes to the appropriate settings for SMS. And generally the stock applications just don't have the enhanced functionality to fine tune those settings.

I wouldn't give up on the Pixel 2 just yet as I don't think it's limited to the device based on my experience and what you are describing.

 

[leggo PE]

You've provided an interesting $0.02, @knight1fox3!

Interestingly enough on my own end, I've had AT&T for basically as long as I can remember, and have never had an issue like this before. I didn't even have this issue with my original Pixel, nor did I have it for the first few months of using my Pixel 2.

I've tried using a few other after market texting apps. None of them have totally fixed the problem, which yes, lends itself to the argument that it's an AT&T problem. Unfortunately for AT&T, they can always go back to the default argument that we are using a phone they don't support (I bought my Pixel 2 from the Google store). 

Additionally with the stock "Messages", it's been crapping out on my in general a lot. Just this morning, I was trying to send a text to my fiance, and it kept freezing and force quitting, resulting in not sent messages. This happened several times over before I finally got across what I wanted to say.

 

[leggo PE]

Well, I just downloaded Evolve, but it won't even show a record of the undownloadable text messages I have. This is interesting, as that is an actual record within the stock Messages app of my being sent a text message that was not properly received.

So I guess for a small experiment, I keep the stock app as my default text app, just wait for this issue to occur again (too bad there's no way to predict it!), and then go check what Evolve shows as far as messages sent?

More fun times ahead!

 

[knight1fox3]

Interestingly enough on my own end, I've had AT&T for basically as long as I can remember, and have never had an issue like this before. I didn't even have this issue with my original Pixel, nor did I have it for the first few months of using my Pixel 2.

I've tried using a few other after market texting apps. None of them have totally fixed the problem, which yes, lends itself to the argument that it's an AT&T problem. Unfortunately for AT&T, they can always go back to the default argument that we are using a phone they don't support (I bought my Pixel 2 from the Google store). 

Additionally with the stock "Messages", it's been crapping out on my in general a lot. Just this morning, I was trying to send a text to my fiance, and it kept freezing and force quitting, resulting in not sent messages. This happened several times over before I finally got across what I wanted to say.

Very interesting (albeit frustrating) indeed. And I can see why you suspect the device in this case rather than the network. As with most digital communication systems, service providers tend to put out "upgrades" even when nothing is necessarily functioning abnormally. Meaning, what they consider to be an "upgrade" might actually break something else down the line (i.e. your SMS functionality). 

You might also consider installing an app (e.g. Clean Master) that can clear your phone's cache and temporary memory storage locations. It's unlikely that this will completely fix the issue, but it won't hurt anything to try. As an alternative, since your phone is still rather new, you could back up all your local phone data (i.e. cloud sync) and then try a factory reset. I typically loathe doing this as it takes time to set everything back up. But with a fair amount of information all being cloud based now, it isn't as bad as it used to be. There are some rather robust back up programs (generally paid variety) that can assist in making this process a little less painless. Good luck! :thumbs:

 

[leggo PE]

Thanks for your suggestions, @knight1fox3! I may pursue those options. I haven't tried a factory reset yet, but have read posts from others on the threads I linked above who did, and for whom doing so also did not solve the problem. So I've been admittedly hesitant to do that, even though it seems like a basic thing to try.

 

[knight1fox3]

Thanks for your suggestions, @knight1fox3! I may pursue those options. I haven't tried a factory reset yet, but have read posts from others on the threads I linked above who did, and for whom doing so also did not solve the problem. So I've been admittedly hesitant to do that, even though it seems like a basic thing to try.

Happy to help out. I can relate to not wanting to factory reset. I'd leave that for a last ditch effort when all other options seem to have been exhausted. One other thought I had which has been suggested is to re-seat and/or replace the SIM card. I don't recall how easily accessible the SIM card is on the Pixel 2. But you can get them from an AT&T store for free I believe. It won't cause you to lose any data, and if it's easily accessible, it's an easy thing to try.

EDIT: Some interesting info here as well. Does the Pixel 2 use "Advanced Messaging"? https://forums.androidcentral.com/google-pixel-pixel-xl/739807-text-message-issue.html

 

[kevo_55]

^^ I believe so KF. It's kinda crazy to insert animated gif's into your texts.

Also with respect to a hard reset, it is worth a try. When you reboot it you'll need to reenter your google account and everything will be set up just like your last Google sync. (One issue, you'll loose your high scores on your games.) The key is to sync your phone before you reset it.

The reset may not work in the end but it is worth a try. You only loose maybe 30 mins of your phone until it resets itself back to before the reset.

 

[leggo PE]

EDIT: Some interesting info here as well. Does the Pixel 2 use "Advanced Messaging"? https://forums.androidcentral.com/google-pixel-pixel-xl/739807-text-message-issue.html

Hmm so I might just have to go and tell everyone I text to go and restart their phones? 

:dunno:

 

[knight1fox3]

Hmm so I might just have to go and tell everyone I text to go and restart their phones? 

:dunno:

No. If your Pixel 2 is using the new "Advanced Messaging" feature, turn it off!  LOL

In addition, it would appear that anyone who might be sending you SMS messages, while on the AT&T network, who also use the "Advanced Messaging" feature, might also have a system conflict and not even know it. Ultimately it will be up to AT&T (assuming they even recognize this as an issue) to patch this inconsistency. I don't use "Adv Msg" so it sounds relatively new. Again, one of those "upgrades" to a system that was already working. <smh>

 

[leggo PE]

No. If your Pixel 2 is using the new "Advanced Messaging" feature, turn it off!  LOL

Oh, yeah. I've definitely tried that in the past. It didn't help, unfortunately.

 

[leggo PE]

Can anyone recommend any good, decently priced bluetooth headphones? I'm waffling between in-ear types (though my ears are small, so this can be no bueno if they don't come with multiple sizes) and completely over the ear ones. Will be using mainly for travel, so packability is a priority.  But mainly, comfort, sound, and price.

 

[knight1fox3]

Can anyone recommend any good, decently priced bluetooth headphones? I'm waffling between in-ear types (though my ears are small, so this can be no bueno if they don't come with multiple sizes) and completely over the ear ones. Will be using mainly for travel, so packability is a priority.  But mainly, comfort, sound, and price.

I basically did a search on Amazon for the best rated Bluetooth headphones. Spent around $20 or so and no complaints thus far. Pairs nicely to my fitness band where I can also stream music to them from. :thumbs: