# Texts sent from computer to iPhone are getting smattered



## Alex Ethridge (Apr 10, 2000)

I hate texting really only because I hate using that tiny keyboard I have to use to do it so I have been using my computer to send texts to a certain few people. There is one person I have sent texts to who has Verizon service and Samsung phone. Everything I send to her comes through just fine. Then there is another person on Verizon who uses an iPhone and texts I send him are broken up with extra spaces and non-keyboard characters. He says he can make out what I wrote but reading it requires more-than-normal effort.

Anyone know of a fix for this?


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## Couriant (Mar 26, 2002)

I will test it out with my phone, but I think it's how the iPhone SMS app receives it.


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## Couriant (Mar 26, 2002)

So I only get 5 lines of text and it seems to have a max number of characters.

I too have verizon....


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## Alex Ethridge (Apr 10, 2000)

Thanks.

Well, I guess there isn't any way of reliably sending texts from a computer to a phone. I just sent another text from my computer to a person who uses a Motorola phone and one of those prepaid services and she says it comes smattered with extra spaces, broken-up words and non-keyboard characters.

I may have to just get a keyboard for my phone.


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## crjdriver (Jan 2, 2001)

Are you using the same email client? I notice when I send a text from outlook to an iphone [spectrum] it works fine however if I use a web based email like att, gmail, etc, the formatting is wrong, does not "Look" correct, etc.


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## Alex Ethridge (Apr 10, 2000)

I use Thunderbird, never anything else for e-mail.


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## AmyToo (Sep 22, 2017)

Have you tried using the voice assistant on your phone to send a text?


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## crjdriver (Jan 2, 2001)

If you are always using the same provider and isp, then it is probably how the individual carriers handle a msg. Just as a test, send a txt to a problem phone using a web based program such as gmail, yahoo mail, etc.


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## Alex Ethridge (Apr 10, 2000)

Frankly, no.

My reason is actually quite old* and probably outdated*, too. Years ago, I tried voice-recognition software and spent as much time proof-reading and correcting as I would have spent typing it in the first place. And that's NOT an exaggeration. So I dismissed that idea twenty years ago and haven't tried it since.


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## Alex Ethridge (Apr 10, 2000)

crjdriver said:


> If you are always using the same provider and isp, then it is probably how the individual carriers handle a msg. Just as a test, send a txt to a problem phone using a web based program such as gmail, yahoo mail, etc.


I have my own domain. Using other domains, even if it worked well, would introduce new inconveniences I don't want to deal with.

My problem is that I don't like the incorrect English, lack of capitalizations, lack of punctuations I see in texts. When I see that, the words that come to mind are things like lazy, ignorant, uneducated, etc. Yes, I know, it gets the message across. So at this point, I'm investigating the possibility of a real, physical keyboard as an accessory because of all the 'shifts' required to get in the proper characters for proper writing.

I'm old, stubborn and have an appreciation for the education I got.


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## Couriant (Mar 26, 2002)

I hear you about proof reading... even with my accent I end up correcting the message.

The test I did earlier was with Outlook 365 and both HTML and Plain Text and both did the same thing. Maybe it's how verizon is receiving the email.


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

In your Thunderbird Address Book in the entry for each contact is "Prefers to receive message formatted as." If you are not using "Plain text" for the folks to whom you are texting I suggest trying that choice.


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## AmyToo (Sep 22, 2017)

Alex Ethridge said:


> Frankly, no.
> 
> My reason is actually quite old* and probably outdated*, too. Years ago, I tried voice-recognition software and spent as much time proof-reading and correcting as I would have spent typing it in the first place. And that's NOT an exaggeration. So I dismissed that idea twenty years ago and haven't tried it since.


Siri, Alexa, and OK Google didn't exist 20 years ago. Give the new technology a try. It works pretty well.


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## Alex Ethridge (Apr 10, 2000)

AmyToo said:


> Siri, Alexa, and OK Google didn't exist 20 years ago. Give the new technology a try. It works pretty well.


 Thanks but using other domains, even if it worked well, would introduce new inconveniences I don't want to deal with, not the least of which is another e-mail account to constantly monitor.


TerryNet said:


> In your Thunderbird Address Book in the entry for each contact is "Prefers to receive message formatted as." If you are not using "Plain text" for the folks to whom you are texting I suggest trying that choice.


Seems like a likely solution. I sure hope so. Will try it tomorrow.


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## Alex Ethridge (Apr 10, 2000)

TerryNet said:


> In your Thunderbird Address Book in the entry for each contact is "Prefers to receive message formatted as." If you are not using "Plain text" for the folks to whom you are texting I suggest trying that choice.


Didn't work.

I sent a message as follows:
"This is a test. Please let me know if this comes through clear and normal, without the smattering of misplaced spaces and other odd unintended characters. Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country."

This is the reply I got back:
"This is too much trouble. It seems that your texts come from different numbers, and my phone wants to treat it like spam. So I have to go through a lot to get to the text to begin with, and then try to piece it all together. Yours are the only ones that are truncated into several pieces."


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## AmyToo (Sep 22, 2017)

Alex Ethridge said:


> Thanks but using other domains, even if it worked well, would introduce new inconveniences I don't want to deal with, not the least of which is another e-mail account to constantly monitor.
> Seems like a likely solution. I sure hope so. Will try it tomorrow.


I don't know what you mean by "other domains". They're voice assistants. Alexa and OK Google work with any smart phone and any email address. If you have an iPhone, Siri is built in.


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## Alex Ethridge (Apr 10, 2000)

AmyToo said:


> I don't know what you mean by "other domains". They're voice assistants. Alexa and OK Google work with any smart phone and any email address. If you have an iPhone, Siri is built in.


OK, I understand that and my reply was off target. I envy people who can dictate and punctuate as they go and get everything in proper order the first time. I can't. Thanks but I don't think that will work for me.

Then there's this reason. If you read technology news, you'll know how unsecured all networks are from citizen homes all the way up to the Department of Defense. I have three TVs that I've put the soldering iron to and disabled the microphones and the only mic on my computer is in my web cam which stays unplugged unless it is in use. I guess you can say I'm a card-carrying member of "The Tin Foil Hat Club".

I have the Galaxy Note 8 and voice-recognition is turned off. I would physically disable its mic but, well, it's a phone.


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## crjdriver (Jan 2, 2001)

Not all that paranoid. I have both a washer/dryer and a refrigerator that want to connect to my home network. I see no reason at all that a washer or refrigerator needs to connect to my network; just another way in...


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