Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Mobile
  3. News

T-Mobile breaks the limitations of regular, boring text messaging with Advanced Messaging

Williams Pelegrin
By

tmobile advanced messaging sms t mobile
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Messaging services like iMessage are able to overcome the limitations of text messaging on several fronts, and now T-Mobile is set to introduce those advantages through its recently-launched Advanced Messaging feature.

Built on the Rich Communications Service (RCS), Advanced Messaging allows for near real-time chat with either one other person or with a group. It also lets you see when others are typing, when messages are delivered, and when they are read. Finally, you can send photos and video clips up to 10MB in size to others. With Advanced Messaging, there’s no need to use a separate app or to sign up for another service.

Recommended Videos

If this sounds a bit familiar, it’s because there are other messaging services, like iMessage, that already have similar features. The main difference with Advanced Messaging is that you don’t need an iPhone to take advantage of it. So long as you have a T-Mobile device, you’re good to go, though existing devices will need a software update to enable the feature.

Related

According to T-Mobile, the first device to launch with Advanced Messaging is the Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime, which is available for purchase today for $190 outright or $7.92 a month for 23 months and (to be absolutely exact) $7.83 for the final month. By the time we reach the end of 2015, T-Mobile will have “nearly a dozen more” devices that will include the feature. For owners of the Samsung Galaxy S5 and Galaxy S6, however, they will also receive Advanced Messaging through a software update sometime in the near future.

As for the service itself, Advanced Messaging was built to work “across all devices, makers and operating systems, and wireless operators,” though T-Mobile is the first carrier to properly take advantage of RCS. In addition, you’ll need either a Wi-Fi or LTE connection to use Advanced Messaging.

Given today’s announcement, T-Mobile may wind up spurring its competitors into using RCS in order to support Advanced Messaging or something similar for their customers, in the same way that T-Mobile spurred AT&T and Verizon to offer monthly installment plans.

Alongside the announcement, T-Mobile also announced a slew of new devices, starting with the Kyocera Hydro Wave, which is currently available for $150 outright or $6.25 a month for 23 months and $6.24 for the final month. Those on MetroPCS can look forward to buying the handset on July 27. Meanwhile, the HTC Desire 626s, announced last Wednesday, is available for purchase for $170 outright or $7.09 a month for 23 months and $6.92 for the final month.

The Samsung Galaxy Core Prime is also available for purchase starting today for $140 outright or $5.84 a month for 23 months and $5.67 for the final month. Finally, the Alcatel OneTouch Pixi 7 tablet will be available on July 29 for $168 outright or $7 a month for 24 months.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Williams Pelegrin
Williams Pelegrin
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Williams is an avid New York Yankees fan, speaks Spanish, resides in Colorado, and has an affinity for Frosted Flakes. Send…
The 5G speed race is over and T-Mobile has won
Cell phone tower shooting off pink beams with a 5G logo next to it.

Every few months, a new market analysis comes out comparing the top 5G performance and availability among U.S. carriers. Each time, we wonder if the latest report will finally topple T-Mobile, which has held a commanding lead over rivals AT&T and Verizon for years. Yet, with each new report, T-Mobile pulls farther ahead while AT&T and Verizon are left in the dust.

With that in mind, Opensignal's latest 5G Experience Report doesn't bring too many surprises, at least in broad strokes. T-Mobile continues to deliver 5G download speeds that are more than twice those of any other carrier and more than twice the 5G availability. This means you won't just get faster performance on T-Mobile's 5G network, but you're more likely to be able to find a 5G connection.

Read more
T-Mobile’s newest plans are exciting for new (and old) customers
The T-Mobile logo on a smartphone.

T-Mobile has just unveiled a new set of plans and perks to help both new and current customers break free of lengthy device contracts while guaranteeing you'll be able to get the best deals available on phone upgrades every two years.

Significantly, with the new plans, the "Un-carrier" promises equal treatment for all customers, whether they're coming over from another carrier or have been using T-Mobile's services for years. That's in contrast to the limited-time offers of its rivals, which often ignore their most loyal subscribers in an effort to entice others to switch carriers.

Read more
T-Mobile’s 5G is still unmatched — but have speeds plateaued?
Woman holding up smartphone with speed test results on Verizon 5G Ultra Wideband network.

Each time a new analysis of mobile network performance gets published, it’s almost a given that we’ll see T-Mobile leading the pack in terms of delivering the fastest 5G speeds. After all, the “Un-carrier” had a massive lead in deploying its 5G networks — and it hasn’t been resting on its laurels.

However, its competitors haven’t been sitting still either. While Verizon may have been starting from behind, it’s been aggressively deploying the faster 5G spectrum that gave it a nice leap in 5G performance last year. Still, Verizon and AT&T are lagging quite a bit in overall mobile network performance, and AT&T has fallen even farther behind when it comes to delivering the best 5G speeds across the nation.

Read more