Okay, here were the steps I took to enable SMS and MMS messaging on the Kompakt:
- I turned off iMessage, FaceTime, and RCS messaging in my iPhone settings. This defaults the messaging on the SIM to SMS and MMS. This process takes time to fully work itself out on the network, so you will need to be patient if messaging is a little wonky for a few days. RCS is a closed system with higher security so it is only accessible on compatible devices. As such, if you don’t switch iMessage and RCS off, the network will try to send messages to you in this format without an accompanying way for you to receive it on your new device. This results in messages either not coming through or arriving as a message you can’t read (you will get an error code or a blank text).
- Afterward, I moved my SIM card to the Kompakt. Most messages would come through at this point but I still had difficulty receiving certain messages, namely group texts and texts with photos.
- In order to enable MMS messaging (group texts and photos), I needed to modify the Kompakt’s APN settings. Since Verizon doesn’t allow you to modify their existing network settings or add a custom APN, I had to switch to Mint Mobile as their network is less locked down.
- Getting Mint to work on the Kompakt took a little work but MMS messages started coming through once I added the standard Mint APN and fiddled with a few settings. Turning on wi-fi calling on the phone and Mint dashboard helped for some reason. NOTE: If you are switching to a new network, you may need to activate your SIM on a smartphone - I had the hardest time trying to get this to work on the Kompakt.
- I currently cannot receive MMS messages from older group chats (those created while using my iPhone) but messages from new group chats come through. You may need to get anyone you have a group chat with to recreate the chat from scratch. This is a minor inconvenience but seems to work.
That’s about it. Everything works on my phone now after several hours of diagnosing the issues I was encountering. Apple and Android have different processes for connecting to cell networks, so there are things that get lost in translation when switching to Android. Asking help from the cell networks is pretty useless - they usually just tell you to get a smartphone. These steps worked for me though. Let me know if you have any questions if problems crop up.