Accents in SMS on iPhone
2013-02-19 01:48
If you wonder why your message length limit is truncated while are you texting from 160 characters to as little as 70 then keep on reading.
If you wonder if you can use all the 160 characters then keep on reading.
if your olny solution is to turn autocorrection functions off just to forget accents while texting then… yes, you're right, keep on reading
When I first noticed that I tought it must be a bug. Why my character limit it going down from 160 to 70. My previous phones, including Nokia and Samsung, allows me to write much longer SMS. And I know, I should have 160 characters, because that's the limit of SMS… But, as soon I saw the problem I found the reason. Accents. When I use just one character with accent it reduces my length limit.
Quick google search and I found that's not only my problem. A lot of iPhone users known this issue. There are even questions on official Apple support forum about that. And yes, there are answers… that it's working as it should and it's not a bug at all. The explanation is very simple and I must agree with it: iPhone (well, iOS or just Apple) wants to send exactly what you wrote. No modification, because user experience is the most important.
All is true, but… texting without accents in most cases is not a big problem. We used not to use them because there was no such possibility at the beginning of GSM. Then comes phones with support for accents in SMS, but you couldn't be sure that recipient's phone supports that. So, we got option to send SMS without them. Just plain characters, without accents. And that's an option you can set in menu - which character set you want to use while texting (with or without accents). But not in iPhone. The worst is that if you use auto enhance functions like autocorrection and completion (who does not?) iOS replaces your words to proper, accented version. If you force system not to do that you make your phone stupid because it learns not to use them at all. So, later, while using any other app, you must correct every word by hand. Horrible.
So, is there any solution for that? I found one - app called Bite SMS, but it requires jailbreak. I found nothing working if you don't want to jailbreak your phone.
That's when I found that I have to deal with that myself. And that's what I want to introduce - an iPhone app called "SMS Accents", available in the AppStore right now!
The most important features of this app are:
And, what is more important - it allows you to save money! Depending on your GSM provider if you use even one accent in your SMS (other then specified in GSM standard, so almost any accent) it reduces your SMS limit to 70 characters (and splits your message into 2 or 3 SMS'es) or sends it using MMS!!!
So, if you use SMS Accents to compose your SMS then you save with almost every sending.
For example:
1. Assume your SMS is about 125 characters long and it contains at least one accent. Then, your GSM provider is going to charge you for 2 SMS (or 1 MMS). Why not to pay for just one SMS? Just use SMS Accents.
2. Assume your SMS is a little longer, let's say 142 characters. In that case, you will be charged for 3 SMS (or 1 MMS). Again? don't you want to pay for just one SMS?
This is very new product. It works on even iPhone 3GS, the only requirement is the iOS version - 5.1 or higher (so that shouldn't be any issue). If you have any question, problems, or just wants to share your experience please feel free to leave a comment.
Please visit app's webpage www.zgibek.com/smsaccents, there is more info, FAQ and even video how it works...
And now….. promo! I want to share with a few promo codes with some of you. Just leave a comment with average length of your SMSes…
If you wonder if you can use all the 160 characters then keep on reading.
if your olny solution is to turn autocorrection functions off just to forget accents while texting then… yes, you're right, keep on reading
Quick google search and I found that's not only my problem. A lot of iPhone users known this issue. There are even questions on official Apple support forum about that. And yes, there are answers… that it's working as it should and it's not a bug at all. The explanation is very simple and I must agree with it: iPhone (well, iOS or just Apple) wants to send exactly what you wrote. No modification, because user experience is the most important.
All is true, but… texting without accents in most cases is not a big problem. We used not to use them because there was no such possibility at the beginning of GSM. Then comes phones with support for accents in SMS, but you couldn't be sure that recipient's phone supports that. So, we got option to send SMS without them. Just plain characters, without accents. And that's an option you can set in menu - which character set you want to use while texting (with or without accents). But not in iPhone. The worst is that if you use auto enhance functions like autocorrection and completion (who does not?) iOS replaces your words to proper, accented version. If you force system not to do that you make your phone stupid because it learns not to use them at all. So, later, while using any other app, you must correct every word by hand. Horrible.
So, is there any solution for that? I found one - app called Bite SMS, but it requires jailbreak. I found nothing working if you don't want to jailbreak your phone.
The most important features of this app are:
- allows using all space of 160 characters,
- allows to use all auto enhance functions while writing SMS, accents are converted to plain letters just before sending,
- allows to turn on and off auto enhance functions anytime you want, with switch provided below text field (very nice option while writing foreign word or shortcut or so),
- uses only approved iOS api so can be used on any iPhone,
- works in every orientation, even upside down,
- shows character counter and alerts you with colors (first green, then red) when you are about to reach 160 length limit (but it doesn't force you to stop),
- removes accents only when needed,
- allows to build a shortcut list (favourites) for most common buddies you text with.
And, what is more important - it allows you to save money! Depending on your GSM provider if you use even one accent in your SMS (other then specified in GSM standard, so almost any accent) it reduces your SMS limit to 70 characters (and splits your message into 2 or 3 SMS'es) or sends it using MMS!!!
So, if you use SMS Accents to compose your SMS then you save with almost every sending.
For example:
1. Assume your SMS is about 125 characters long and it contains at least one accent. Then, your GSM provider is going to charge you for 2 SMS (or 1 MMS). Why not to pay for just one SMS? Just use SMS Accents.
2. Assume your SMS is a little longer, let's say 142 characters. In that case, you will be charged for 3 SMS (or 1 MMS). Again? don't you want to pay for just one SMS?
Please visit app's webpage www.zgibek.com/smsaccents, there is more info, FAQ and even video how it works...
And now….. promo! I want to share with a few promo codes with some of you. Just leave a comment with average length of your SMSes…
blog comments powered by Disqus