I am putting this information out there in case it helps someone else.
I am one of the (un)lucky few who seemed to keep having mysterious issues with certain random MMS or SMS texts never arriving. At first I thought it may be due to RCS or iMessage incompatibility, but I made sure my sim card and number were de-registered from both of those services, and I still kept missing texts. It became very frustrating because I couldn’t pinpoint when, how, or why certain messages wouldn’t arrive.
I finally got together with an iPhone using friend whose texts I kept missing and we did some experimentation. We determined that SOME picture messages, and nearly all LONG SMS messages were not arriving on the Kompakt. I guess the long SMS messages, even though they show as “SMS” on my friend’s phone, are being delivered with the MMS protocol. In other cases, pictures messages would take a very long time to arrive.
The solution I found was to closely examine my APN settings from my provider (US Mobile in the USA, using their “Dark Star” (AT&T) network.
I discovered that the “MMS Port” field was blank in my APN settings. I am not sure if it disappeared at some point, or if I never entered it in, but once I entered that number in (80 according to the APN settings provided by US Mobile) I now seem to be receiving all MMS messages in a timely manner.
It’s possible this issue is specific to my MVNO or to AT&T, but if you are having troubles with missing texts, I would encourage you to triple check your APN settings and make sure they are all entered exactly as provided by your network provider.
TLDR: Missing texts? Make sure your MMS Port # is set in your APN settings and that all other APN settings are entered!
I hope this helps someone. I was thinking I would have to give up my beloved Kompakt due to this issue, but not anymore!
Yes, this. I second this. Highly recommend all Kompakt users who are experiencing missing messages to double check your APN settings. You can find them in Settings > Network and Internet > Mobile Network > Advanced > Access Point Names. Myself, for example, am on Mint Mobile. Mint’s website has a page that shows you all the settings that you need to configure manually. Since I did this the moment I first set up my Kompakt, I have never had any messages go missing (to my knowledge!)
I do. And I thought I had checked it at the time. I also removed my sim and put it in another device to try and deregister from RCS chats, so that may have messed with the APN settings when I put it back in the Kompakt.
@dlsellers That’s such a helpful post & thank you so much for taking the time to share your workaround! This kind of detailed troubleshooting and feedback is incredibly valuable to the community and to other Kompakt users who might be facing similar MMS or SMS delivery issues. We’re really glad you found a solution (and that you’re keeping your beloved Kompakt)!
I was using Dark Star with US Mobile as well, my APN settings were fine. I would miss messages truly randomly, say someone sent me 5 short messages in a row, I would get 3 of them; other times all of them.
But this reminds me of a bug I never mentioned, if someone tried to send me a picture that included text, I wouldn’t get it. …too many problems.
Is it required to deactivate iMessages and RCS to use messages on Kompakt? Can I still use the iMessage SMS app on a laptop and the Kompakt SMS messaging app at the same time? If I send a message on Kompakt, will it appear as sent on a computer, and vice versa?
I’d appreciate any guidance on this issue. Thanks!
You must disable RCS. However, you can check out this thread about the possiblity of using iMessage (I think it requires a second phone number). Otherwise, a simple internet search would show that even Apple recommends disabling iMessage when moving to a non-iPhone device.
If you are not adverse to side-loading apps, there are plenty of options for syncing texts between a computer and an Android device, both with web apps and desktop apps.
Great point about RCS, but don’t worry about listening to apple. It works great.
iMessage is just WhatsApp but they bundle SMS into the app.
Once you move to an android phone SMS just goes to the SMS app and all other iMessages (anyone in the world with an iphone) goes through OpenBubbles.
I have zero issues with it so far. Works perfectly. Just got back from a business trip, gave my number to people, and it was working as if I had an iphone every time they “texted” me from their iPhones
You just have to be aware that some of those messages might not come through on the Kompakt, but they might show up on your laptop. However, if you’re OK with this type of ‘hybrid’ workaround, and it works for you, I guess then it’s OK.