It seems I am missing some text messages when I use the offline+ switch at night. Not always, but enough that I wonder how many I miss and don’t respond to.
Is anyone else having this experience?
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I had a similar experience/bug a while ago that is a bit difficult to describe, but I’ll try. I received a lot of SMS messages, and after that, the notification in the SMS app didn’t go away even though I had read all the messages. I tried everything possible to get rid of the notification (restarting the phone, deleting all messages, changing security settings for unlocking, etc.). What seemed to work was turning on Offline+ and then going into the SMS app. The notification disappeared then, but at the same time, two group messages that I had deleted in May reappeared! I deleted them again. Then there was a new group message that was unread, which I didn’t see when the phone was not in Offline+. I read it, and then the notification disappeared.
EDIT: The notification that didn’t go away was on the lock screen. Where it says 1 missed call, 1 unread SMS, etc.
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Just to make sure I understand this correctly- once you switch back to being ONLINE the messages which would have come through while OFFLINE+ was enabled are NOT received. So, for example, if a friend texted you at 11PM that there was a change in a morning meeting, but you had OFFLINE+ enabled at night, once you turned it off, you never got that message.
Am I understanding this correctly?
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Yes exactly!
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@wander Let me ask my team what could be happening in this case.
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Our team has responded with this answer. It may be a bit confusing, but it’s important to understand that when offline+ is enabled, the phone disappears completely from the operator’s transmitter view - the GSM modem is cut off from the power supply.
To explain what is happening, it’s important to first define what our OFFLINE+ mode does. Unlike a “Do Not Disturb” mode which simply silences notifications, OFFLINE+ completely powers down the phone’s GSM modem. For the network, this is identical to your phone being turned off completely or having the battery removed. Your device becomes entirely unreachable.
The delivery of missed SMS messages is managed by the mobile carrier’s network, not by the phone itself. Here is how the process works:
- When someone sends you a text message, their carrier’s network tries to deliver it to your device.
- If your phone is unreachable (because it’s off or in OFFLINE+ mode), the network’s server (specifically the SMSC - Short Message Service Center) holds the message and will periodically try to send it again.
- Each mobile carrier has its own policy for how long it will keep trying to deliver a message. This “retry period” can range from a few hours to several days (often 24-72 hours), but it is determined entirely by the carrier.
This leads to two possible outcomes when you switch from OFFLINE+ back to being online:
- If you reconnect within your carrier’s retry window, their next delivery attempt will succeed, and you will receive all the queued messages.
- However, if you remain in OFFLINE+ mode for a period that is longer than your carrier’s retry window, their network will stop trying to send the message. The message is then discarded by the carrier and will never reach your phone.
Based on what you’ve described, it is highly likely that you are remaining in OFFLINE+ mode for a duration that exceeds your mobile carrier’s message retry period. The messages aren’t being lost by your phone; they are being dropped by the network before your phone even has a chance to receive them.
In summary, OFFLINE+ provides a true disconnection from the network, and the delivery of any messages sent during that time is dependent on the sender’s carrier policies.
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Thank you for this detailed and insightful response. I sort of assumed something like that was happening, and it’s fun to learn about how things work 
I really appreciate the offline+ mode and reaffirming it’s true disconnection from the network capability.
While I understand the texts are not being lost by the phone, I am only turning it to offline+ for 8-10 hours overnight. It would seem such a short time would not fall outside of the carrier’s retry window, based on the information above. Curious!
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Hello, I just wanted to provide an update. I spoke with my carrier and the missed messages are sitting on their server and not being delivered to my phone when Offline+ is turned off again.
I had someone text me overnight again, while Offline+ switch was enabled. I turned Offline+ off this morning when I woke and didn’t know I’d missed their text until they called and asked me about it.
When I called my carrier they could see the text my friend had sent sitting there, looking like it had gone through. He was surprised that I hadn’t received it and didn’t have any further explanation.
I have tried clearing the cache, resetting the network, to no avail. So, while the answer above is thorough and clear, it does not seem to apply to my situation as far as I can tell.
For now, the best solution I can come up with is to not turn Offline+ on at night, which is a huge disappointment.
Any other suggestions? Is anyone else running into this issue?
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@wander Thanks so much for the detailed update, and I understand why this feels frustrating, so I talked to our team again.
From what you’ve shared (and what your carrier confirmed), this actually matches how SMS delivery works when Offline+ is enabled.
Here’s why:
- When your phone is in Offline+, it’s completely invisible to the mobile network. The carrier’s server holds incoming texts, but it can’t deliver them because, to the network, your phone looks “off.”
- Once you turn Offline+ off, the carrier doesn’t instantly push the messages. Instead, the server follows its own retry schedule. Some carriers re-attempt every few minutes, others in larger intervals. That’s why you may not see the SMS right away when you reconnect.
- If the retry interval is long, it can look like the message is “stuck” even though it’s just waiting for the carrier’s next attempt.
So, the phone itself isn’t blocking or losing the SMS, it’s the timing of your carrier’s retry cycle is what creates that delay.
Think of it like this: when your phone is in Offline+, it’s a bit like putting a “hold mail” request at the post office while you’re away on vacation or are in the process of moving.
- The post office (your carrier’s server) receives your letters (texts) and keeps them safe.
- When you get back and let them know you’re ready (turning Offline+ off), they try to deliver your stack of letters.
- But the post office doesn’t always drop them in your mailbox instantly, they deliver according to their own schedule. That’s why sometimes there’s a delay before you see them.
- And, if you never come back within a certain time (the carrier’s retry window), the post office eventually gives up and returns the letters to the sender.
So the messages aren’t lost by your phone, they’re just waiting on the “post office” to make another delivery attempt.
Hopefully this makes sense.
I believe I understand what you’re saying.
Here’s an issue with the “re-attempting” narrative: those text messages that the carrier’s representative could see being sent to my number, but I had not received due to my phone essentially being “off” in Offline+ mode, STILL have not arrived and it’s been almost 7 hours now since they were originally sent. On the other hand, if I leave the service area and then return (minutes or hours later), within moments any missed messages then show up in my inbox. Furthermore, the texts aren’t being dropped from the carrier’s server; from their side of things (as well as my friends who are texting me), the message is appearing to be successfully delivered (which may be precluding the need to “re-attempt delivery”).
To provide another detail: As I have tinkered with this issue over the last week or so, I have found that it only seems to happen when I’ve got it in Offline+ mode overnight (8-9hrs); if I turn it off right now, and send a text to myself from another line, the text will come through without any trouble as soon as I turn the switch off again (affirming the Mudita team’s understanding above).
Finally, switching to Fossify Messages doesn’t seem to help.
Thank you for your help
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Personally, this is great. Offline+ is one of the main reasons I’ve bought the Kompakt (awaiting delivery). True disconnection and invisibility with no data or location leaks, plus the hardware disconnect of the mic and the software disconnect of the camera, it’s basically a faraday bag - perfect!
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Agreed! It’s absolutely one of my favorite features <3
I am also interested in tracking this issue (ultimately my phone must come out of the faraday bag and do the communication thing)! Since the beginning (Kickstarter backer), I’ve loved participating in this project and even now as we’re ironing out these kinks it feels like a collaboration. Mudita is such a great group of folks, always great at listening and helping.
You’re going to love your Kompakt. It’s been my favorite phone and I’m the type that’d rather not have one at all.
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I am impressed with the Mudita team, for sure. Ursula is always responsive and helpful and I got a response from someone who works in their customer service yesterday, via email. They were quick to respond etc. All good - and it’s essential to have a place where we can feedback issues. Action is clearly taken or considered.
Like you, my favourite phone is no phone(!) I currently have the dumbest phone possible, so I’m curious to see how I use the Kompakt. I imagine it will feel like I’m upgrading to a smartphone in some ways, but I hope not. I’ll post a review-type thing on here once it arrives, after a week or two.
@wander Thanks for sharing these extra details, this is really helpful. You’re absolutely right, what you’re describing might go a bit beyond the normal “carrier retry” explanation. I am going to check with the team.
From what you describe, it seem that essentially, the carrier thinks the delivery succeeded, but the device hasn’t fully refreshed its connection to actually receive the messages.
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Thanks so much!
Tonight I will try actually turning the phone off and sending some test messages from my other number to see if it behaves differently. I’ll report back as well.
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It should be noted that, by design, the SMS protocol is very unreliable. Missing SMS is something to expect, unfortunately.
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I’ve never had an issue with it before (I think?), and this experience has been humbling in regards to my personal dependence on technological communication.
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It’s true that every provider handles sending text messages differently. For example, if I set my Kompakt to offline+ mode at night and go back online the next morning, I receive all the text messages that couldn’t be delivered during that time within seconds.
But if I send my wife a text message from work in the morning and her smartphone is still in airplane mode, she won’t receive the text message until 1-3 hours later. And it doesn’t matter which device I use to send the text message. It was the same with the Pure and the Punkt.
So it’s definitely not the Kompakt’s fault.
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Thanks so much for sharing your experience! It’s helpful to hear from others in the community when we run into these unusual situations.
You didn’t specify, but it sounds like you and your wife have different carriers–hers being delivered slower after coming out of airplane mode and yours coming in seconds later from Offline+ (I have a similar experience when going out of and returning to the service area–near immediate delivery). This sounds like your Offline+ experience is behaving how Urszula describes above, which makes a ton of sense logically speaking.
I don’t believe it’s the Kompakt’s fault, and I also don’t know what to do to have the experience you are both telling me about–but I do believe you! I have confirmed at this point with several people that I am consistently missing texts sent while in Offline+ mode. While they are adapting (reattempting if they haven’t heard back from me), I can’t help but think about those who wouldn’t know what’s up – potential clients even (yikes).
I am so open to suggestions! If there is something I can inquire about to my carrier, or do with my sim card–anything that could help me–I am all ears and will try it. Clearly I have an oddball case, and I still believe my experience, and the hopeful resolution of it, could help others in the future
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Yes, exactly, we are with different providers and on different networks. I’m on the Vodafone network and my wife is on the O2 network here in Germany.
I think if you have this problem and it’s really affecting you, the only option is to switch providers. You could try asking different providers how they handle this.
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