I have an app published that handles SMS messages. I have received some feedback about users wanting the app to handle SMS messages that come from a sender with letters instead of a plain old phone number. That is, if I understand it right, they sometimes receive messages not only from a sender number like "123-456-1234" but also from a sender like "LETTERED". I have never seen this before. In the emulator I tried emulating an SMS with such a sender using a command like sms send TESTSENDER MessageContent and the emulator says that it only accepts numbers +[0-9]*. Does any one else have any idea of what my users are talking about?
Your users are talking about companies that change their Sender ID to an alphanumeric number. Some examples of this are when your carrier texts you (i.e. my carrier texts me from 'Vodafone'), or when my dentist texts me about my upcoming appointment from 'DENTIST'.
Take a look at this answer for some info about how they do it: How do some SMS messages transmit the senders name?
If your app sorts texts or something similar, I imagine that you could just filter them the same way you would a standard telephone number.
Related
I have a technical issue that I can't resolve because the problem only happens on the other side of the planet that I'm on.
So I am hoping someone with a lot more Experience with these technologies can suggest an alternate approach or path to take in order to rectify it, or possibly right out "RECOGNIZE" the source of the problem.
THE SCENARIO :
I have developed an application for the Samsung Gear2 that sends SMS messages using its host companion android application.
In all tests I perform with the app pair, everything works as expected.
Messages are sent by the android device's SMS manager and received by the recipient no problem, even when adding and removing the leading 1.
10 and 11 digit numbers to and from the USA, with and without the leading + sign all pass.
However, when sending the apps to Samsung for review and testing, they keep having problems sending certain numbers. As far as I can tell the only thing different between the numbers that send and the numbers that fail is the fact that the first has a leading 0 and the second does not.
This would have to be coupled with the fact that they are testing this functionality
in a different Continent/Country than the 1 where my tests are being done(USA).
As my tests succeed to send and receive the messages regardless of whether
the number is a 10 digit version or 11 digit version of the same number.
Also discrepancies surfacing from the use of different Carriers (possibly Telecom in Asia) other than the one that I am testing with(Bell - USA)...
To be clear, I am simply composing messages via the Gear2 app and sending it to the android device via Samsung's Accessory Protocol which works flawlessly.
From there I use the basic implementation of the standard
Android's SMSManager
getDefault()
and
sendTextMessage(String destinationAddress, String scAddress, String
text, PendingIntent sentIntent, PendingIntent deliveryIntent)
with all null values exept the "destinationAddress","text",
and the "sentIntent".
THE QUESTION(s) : in order of most to least important
1. IS THERE a specific "routine" SMS app developers use to maximize the
success rate
of sent sms messages no matter what Country or Carrier the user sends the message from or to, and no matter if the entered number contains the leading exit and Country codes?
(ie: Adding or removing a plus(+) sign, per-examining the Locale
being used and adjusting the number accordingly using some sort of
"SMS Numbering Standard", Altering the Service Center Address / SMSC
Address (AT+CSCA), ect...)?
2. IS THERE some sort of information source detailing general "GOTCHAS" to look for
dependent upon the various Cell/SMS service providers/Carriers? (at least 4 that I know of).
3. Why would Android's SMSManger report "SMS Sent" if the message wasn't actually delivered.
NOTE: I realize that one can also listen for the "second" broadcast android sends
confirming that the message was "actually" received by the recipient, but that raises questions concerning how to rectify that situation, if it's at all rectifiable (at least from a programmatic perspective.)
4. Should my app, which is actually a Samsung Gear2 app integrated with an android app,
and merely delegates the responsibility of sending the messages to the android devices SMSManager, be held responsible for the message not being sent?
NOTE: I can't help but feel that Samsung is requiring me to handle
issues outside the scope and unrelated to the apps intended
functionality, Albeit , I do understand that at least part of the
issue has to fall back on me by Default, being the nature of the Gear2
apps dependance on the android device to complete the intended action
started by the Gear2 app, but how far must I go to ensure the standard
SMS abilities of a users android device beyond giving helpful feedback
as to what the underlying problem may be. I have to assume this
problem would exist using the device itself to compose the message
instead of the Gear2 app, given the exact same address/number .
5. Assuming that the app is being tested in Asia (South Korea, Samsung's Headquarters)... And assuming that the carrier being used to test SMS is SK Telecom
(Which I think is South Korea's top Carrier)...
Is it Mandatory to start all numbers with a zero in order to successfully send an SMS within the same Country? And if so is that the same in all Countries besides the USA and Canada(Which seem to work either way)?
6. Is this a common issue to deal with generally when developing sms applications, or can I single this particular situation out from the rest based on the unique variables introduced by Samsung's over diligent testing practices along with there unfamiliar
Telephony Service Providers and even more unfamiliar Geo-location/Country-code and numbering schemes.
THE PROBLEM *(only happens during Samsung testing) :
TEST 1:
Send SMS from stored contacts with number 010-6627-xxxx (11 digits)
Result:
SMS is reported by android's SMSManager as sent. The recipient
immediately receives SMS message.
Conclusion:
SMS delivery success.
TEST 2:
Send SMS from manually entering number 10-6627-xxxx (10 digits) (same number as previous without first 0)
Result:
SMS is reported by android's SMSManager as sent. However, the
recipient never receives SMS message.
Conclusion:
?
Unable to duplicate this problem (at least not in the USA) as both :
11 digit numbers (leading 1) AND 10 digit numbers
(no leading 1)
Successfully send the message as expected.
The problem only happens during device testing/certification by Samsung's app testing
department, and seemingly only when manually entering the destination address/number.
Stored Contacts (for some reason) always work.
After being denied certification of an otherwise "GOOD TO GO APPLICATION" 3 times by Samsung for issues UN-recreatable in my own testing environment I find myself turning the good folks at SOF with this "HAIL MARY PASS".
I do not change anything at all about the numbers that are sent to the SMSManager, But I'm wondering if maybe THAT'S the problem.
EXTRA INFO :
All devices used are using android 4.2 and higher.
My tests were all done using T-Mobile Galaxy phones and sometimes google/Gmail/GoogleVoice
sms/mms service From North Fla. USA.
ON A SIDE NOTE ABOUT SAMSUNG...
Samsung's testers are very sparse with the details of their testing enviroment including what may possibly be the issue from their standpoint which is unfortunate because I'm becoming certain that this issue is Trivial at best and probably easily fixable with a basic understanding of your own Country/Carriers methods for sending successful SMS messages.
It seems they are not even making an effort to enlighten me or TO make any neccesary
adjustments to their test numbers as any user would do in order to have a successful result.
ANY INSIGHT INTO THIS ISSUE WHATSOEVER WOULD BE IMMENSELY APPRECIATED!!!
Interesting question. I understand that the Samsung testing process can be quite rigorous.
From reading your info .. have you tried including that leading "0" yourself? E,g when a person manually enters 10 digits without a leading 0, you detect it and add this "0" . Also, how are this digits entered on a gear 2 device ? Do you implement your own keypad and ensure it captures the right digits ?
I guess that would be a starting point ..
V.
I have seen many questions asking how to get the SMS sender's phone number, but not the recipient's phone number. I have used the tool on this site to generate a PDU and can see the recipient's phone number in it:
Useful PDU details and PDU translation tool
However, I don't see anywhere in the SmsMessage class provided by Android where I can get the recipient's phone number. The reason I want to do this is that I have a Dual SIM phone, but don't see anywhere in Android where I can determine what SIM port is being used for the incoming SMS. At the very least, I want to look at each SMS message and determine what phone number they were sent to.
This question seems very similar to mine but with no answers:
How to get SMS recipient's phone number in Android
My question is different because I have detailed a link to a site about PDUs, which may be useful for extracting the phone number form the raw PDU bytes that the SmsMessage class provides.
Any ideas?
It depends from which point you watch SMS message.
SMS PDU lies on top of MAP protocol.
When you send SMS message, phone puts recipient number in TP-Destination within a PDU, when you receive SMS message, there is no recipient number anywhere. The reason for this is how SMS works.
When someone sends you SMS, GSM network on his side request SRIsm message for you, that means his HLR will try to find you either in his home network, or through your home HLR. The response from HLR is IMSI number (your SIMcard) and VLR/MSC number, to where sender network must send SMS.
In second packet, which is actually SMS message (Forward-MT), therefore is only your IMSI number.
Since you have dual SIM, you can try to find based on this number, to which SIM card is SMS destined.
Note that IMSI number is not part of the PDU but rather lower MAP protocol.
Can the longitude, latitude, and altitude of the sender of an SMS be ascertained in code?
Not unless you have some way of pinging the sender's phone - an sms is basically two parts: the message itself, and the phone number of the sender. There's no location data included with it, and definiteley no gps coordinates.
Of course not; for a start, most mobile phones don't have GPS receivers.
Although there appears to be limited information on the topic, you should look into Silent SMS. It does not appear to be what you are asking but it's an interesting topic. There appear to be reports that these messages can be used by a telcom to obtain positional details.
You can easily encode all those coordinates in an SMS but they are not there by default. First, SMS'es' were developed at a time when we didn't have smart phones. Second, it would be a terrible privacy issue if you could.
I'm sending SMS in my Android App,
SmsManager sm = SmsManager.getDefault();
String number = "1234567890";
sm.sendTextMessage(number, null, "Test SMS Message--Successful", null, null);
It is working fine. My Question is, Is it possible to add string/text instead of Sender Mobile Number? so that in the recipient mobile, the sender's mobile number will be appeared as that string/text.
Yes, it is possible to change the sender phone number, but you need to use a third party SMS Gateway. You can reroute the SMS to come from a phone number that you register for your app.
Twilio - http://www.twilio.com/help/faq/sms/can-i-specify-the-phone-number-a-recipient-sees-when-getting-an-sms-from-my-twilio-app
TextMagic - http://www.textmagic.com/app/pages/en/products/bulk-sms-gateway-api
No. It is not possible. Here are multiple reasons why:
When you send an sms, using SmsManager you encode it with the content - the actual text message itself. You also encode it with the phone number you are sending it to. And you encode the message center number to the message. That is all you get to encode. Then Android/hardware handles sending it over to the cell phone tower where it is then out of your hands.
If you somehow tried to encode the recipient phone number as text, then the carrier would have no idea how to handle the message. It wouldn't have anywhere to send it too.
Cell phones do not have inbound Caller (or sms) ID - unless the number is already programmed, of course.
When the carrier network is sending an sms, it goes through a message center. The message center determines what data is forwarded to the recipient phone. The message centers currently available just do not support what you're wanting - at least not to the consumer.
I've got an app that lets users send sms messages. Works great when the message < 160 characters. After that, things work less-perfectly. Seems like there are a few options here:
Manually break the message up into multiple SMSs, send each part as a separate SMS.
Use the multi-part send SMS function (sendMultipartTextMessage()).
Send the message as an MMS message (sendDataMessage()?).
Here's my novice take on it:
1)
most well supported across carriers. Users may get mad that you just cost them N separate messages though, instead of converting to MMS or something.
2)
not sure if this is supported by different carriers, and read that once the message is greater than 3 * 160 chars in length, gets converted to MMS anyway by different SMS apps - maybe stay away from this altogether.
3)
not sure how to do this, and older phones might not support MMS. To send an MMS using the android SDK, do we just use the SmsManager.sendDataMessage() method?
Thanks
This is quite an old post but it's high up on Google when searching for Android multipart sms, so maybe it helps someone.
Regarding part 1 and 2, it's pretty much the same thing. To use sendMultipartTextMessage, you need to break up the long message into an ArrayList of Strings. It then sends as many SMS as needed. In short:
SmsManager sms = SmsManager.getDefault();
ArrayList<String> parts = sms.divideMessage(longMessage);
sms.sendMultipartTextMessage(phoneNumber, null, parts, null, null);
Part 3: MMS is not an option, as it has been pointed out. The charges and all.
seems to me that the first option is what most mobile phones do by default. sms messages by design can only send a certain amount of characters (160 probbaly), just inform the user that the message is too big and if he still wants to send it anyway (informing also how many sms would the total be).
as for MMS and multipart as you said not every carrier supports it, so they dont seem to be the best option.
EDIT: as for how does MMS work on android-sdk check this thread out: Android SDK MMS
I would suggest the usage of option 2 when you are working on Androids GSM based handsets.
GSM based Mobile device takes care of segmentation in which breaking the messages to multiparts for sending in performed and also assembling of the multipart messages in to one message on receipt.
If you have a method which takes care of sending text messages, than by default use the options of manager.divideMessage as it will work even if the message segments required are only 1 in number.
I dont think you should have any problem sending messages using option 2 and it will also ensure that the receiver receives the message as a single message.
Else we need to write your our own protocol stack where in you write reference number and number of messages for the receipient to understand and recreate the complete message; which is not very tough. We can use byte arrays with headers and the messages can be sent as base64 encoded.
Also I dont know much about the limits the carriers enforce on the number of segments in multipart message; based on my test I was able to send and receive 160*8 segments properly. Based on the GSM standards the segments can be upto 255 but that count might depend on the service provider implementation.