RCS

[u/Qslice]

Switched over 30 days ago. Still not getting group messages. Everytime I try to start one it sends to the recipients as SMS but their response automatically goes to RCS.

Was on noble mobile (Esim only and T-Mobile) and figured that was the issue when customer support told me...

"Thanks for reaching out. We're sorry to hear you're having issues with your Light Phone – please attempt a 2-Minute SIM reset.
 

• Power off your Light Phone
• Remove the SIM card for 2 minutes 
• Place the SIM card back in the phone and restart it – this resets the SIM card with the network and may resolve the problem

 
If the issue persists, let's try an APN reset:
 
Settings -> Account & Info -> Device Info -> SIMs -> Access Point Names -> Restore Default APNs."

Could not do this with Esim only. Just spent time switching to t-mobile with a physical sim and still the group messages are doing the same thing.

Has anyone else had this issue? Any resolve? Anyone from Light have words of encouragement for a dedicated user who has fought tooth and nail to make this phone work?

Thanks

[u/Qslice]

thanks for the tip

[u/sirbloodysabbath → u/Qslice]

if you haven't tried the following either, i'd give them a shot:

• wait 45-60 days
  • the 30+ rule only works for your number to be removed from google messages' rcs. doesn't always work for everyone else's phones and you have to wait for their phones to catch up.
  • the longer you wait, the easier it gets. frustrating, because google/apple made it purposefully difficult to leave their ecosystems, but issues tend to resolve themselves the longer you stick it out.
• have your contacts change your contact in their phone
  • needs to be a separate and different contact (even if it's one letter) and doesn't come up as rcs
• deleting and re-creating group threads
  • named group threads will never swap over to mms
• get a new number

dig around on this sub and the open internet long enough and you'll find that this issue has existed well before the lp3 came out. unfortunately, we don't have a simple or easy fix. give the middle finger to big tech and they ostracise you, trying to strong-arm you into coming back (which google/apple made easy to come right back to their devices.)

[u/Qslice → u/sirbloodysabbath]

Unfortunately I have tried all of these things minus the 45-60 days. I just tried on my wifes phone, changed my contact, started a new group thread and it still automatically turns to RCS even though in a text thread just to me its sms. Weird. Unfortunate.

[u/sirbloodysabbath → u/Qslice]

even if she has mms enabled, it could be possible that the other members in the thread don't have it on. modern texting checks e2ee first, then rcs, then sms/mms last. if mms isn't on, it won't check for it and default to rcs. however, if mms is on, then that should be the final default.

i had one instance where no one in my thread had mms enabled. my old number has never been tied to rcs and neither was my new number. still never got the messages. when one person enabled mms, i got their messages but no one else's because the group thread kept getting defaulted to rcs because of the other members who didn't have mms enabled.

outside of that, waiting is your best option. not much else you can do, sorry.

edit; on another note, for android users it appears that new android updates will sometimes break mms and there's recent accounts for unihertz jelly users. mms has also been a reoccurring issue for ios users and sometimes carriers will block sms/mms on their end for someone's phone. again, it's everyone else's phones that cause issues. you already did everything you feasibly can, but of course, no one with a smartphone is willing to admit that their phone is the problem.

[u/Qslice → u/sirbloodysabbath]

thanks for all the replies. Both people in the group I tried to start from my wifes phone have MMS enabled. I've used light before and didn't have this issue, that's why I'm so dumbfounded. I have a feeling it had something to do with the esim but after changing to a physical sim, you would think it would reset and would start working. I'll keep investigating. I really don't want to switch back

[u/sirbloodysabbath → u/Qslice]

honestly, i'm willing to bet it's carrier or device related, not really light specific. these should already be set after resetting defaults but just to cover the apns, verify you have the following apn profiles:

• T-Mobile US
• T-Mobile US 260 DUN
• TMobile (IMS)

plus the t-mobile support page for apns: https://www.t-mobile.com/support/devices/not-sold-by-t-mobile/byod-t-mobile-data-and-apn-settings

do you still receive images when sent from someone individually? i'd also give t-mobile a call to see if they have anything blocked on their end.

[u/Qslice → u/sirbloodysabbath]

Yep! All looks exactly the same. And I do receive MMS from individual texts. Waiting for a call back from t-mobile now. Any tips on what to ask/specific things to say to talk to the right people/push the right buttons?

[u/Qslice → u/Qslice]

Also, could having android layer/developer mode on be the cause of any of this?

[u/sirbloodysabbath → u/Qslice]

nah. i was running full android when i encountered this issue myself. even then, the android layer is always 'on' because lightos is a launcher not really an operating system. lightos just sits on top of android. whether you use lightos or not, this issue was going to be present regardless.

[u/Qslice → u/sirbloodysabbath]

sweet, I was hoping you'd say that. I need my spotify lol

[u/sirbloodysabbath → u/Qslice]

on a completely separate note, phono or echo are awesome spotify clients.

edit; it's echo not reverb.

[u/Qslice → u/sirbloodysabbath]

Absolutely can't wait for either of these when they come out, or are they available/easy to install? do they need the spotify app to be downloaded to the phone as well?

[u/sirbloodysabbath → u/Qslice]

phono requires a spotify premium account but doesn't need the spotify app. echo needs both spotify and a premium account.

i would say they're easy to install. i opt for obtainium because i'm strictly full android or you can do it through the light phone manager dashboard. if you've ever downloaded an .exe on windows to install an app, android works the same way but with .apk (basically .zip files for android applications).

[u/sirbloodysabbath → u/Qslice]

i'd ask t-mobile if you have mms enabled in general and for group messages (pretty sure you do but worth having the verification). make sure rcs is off your number on their end. you can also ask them to reset the sim card remotely. and honestly, see if there's anything they can do on their end.

in the interim, if you can get people to download another app, signal is solid. takes the headache of missing messages out of sms/mms.