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Last Post
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Sep 22, 2008 7:18 AM
by: pemaleso
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298
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Apr 20, 2005
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National characters in SMS app
Posted:
Jul 26, 2008 12:03 PM
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I'm writing this here to see what you think and to gather support. I know Apple doesn't read this and I will forward this to their feedback form.
The SMS app of the iPhone has a serious flaw. It doesn't allow for national character use to be turned off.
As you know, SMS texts support up to 160 characters defined under a "GSM Alphabet" set. It includes tildes such as è or lower-case ñ. However it lacks áéíóú and upper-case Ñ. That's just for spanish characters. To solve this, a new revision of SMS was introduced and it uses the unicode alphabet. The problem is that the character max is down to 60 or so characters.
Most (99%) modern mobile phones with predictive text input have an option to turn this off. This way if you enter é it will be sent as è or if you enter áéíóú it will be sent as their counter parts aeiou. Doing so allows you to send a full 160-character set.
If you don't do it, and write a 160-long sms, you would actually be sending 3 sms instead of just one, being charged for 3 rather than one.
The problem is that
a) The iPhone has no such option to stop national characters from being used
b) There's no way to turn off the dictionary feature. So, no matter how many times you write maria without tilde, the iPhone will always correct it as María, turning on the unicode character set.
Hopefully Apple can fix this soon.
In Spain, Movistar doesn't offer a tariff with included SMS, so we're charged for each SMS independently (15 euro cents each, about 23 us cents). People are starting to notice that they're being charged x2 or x3 for just one short message.
MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo Santa Rosa 2.4 ghz 4gb ram 160gb hdd + iMac 2.2ghz
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Posts:
1,851
From:
The State Of Confusion??
Registered:
Mar 23, 2008
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Re: National characters in SMS app
Posted:
Jul 26, 2008 12:18 PM
in response to: Jose M Olaya
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.
Sony VIAO
Windows XP
1st Generation iPhone
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Re: National characters in SMS app
Posted:
Jul 26, 2008 12:20 PM
in response to: Tbo6652
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Thanks but I think you haven't really read my message.
The problem when sending SMS texts is precisely that the iPhone DOES use the national characters, therefore being the customer billed for 2 or 3 sms instead of a single one.
MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo Santa Rosa 2.4 ghz 4gb ram 160gb hdd + iMac 2.2ghz
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Posts:
16,311
From:
FL
Registered:
Nov 26, 2002
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Re: National characters in SMS app
Posted:
Jul 26, 2008 12:50 PM
in response to: Jose M Olaya
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I don't understand why having a letter with an accent over it would cause an SMS to be sent as 3 messages.
MacBook , Mini, Airport Express
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Re: National characters in SMS app
Posted:
Jul 26, 2008 1:17 PM
in response to: Tamara
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because the standard character set for SMS does not have the characters with the tildes on top.
Because it doesn't, another set is used instead, UNICODE.
The problem is that for each character to be coded by UNICODE takes 3 times as much "space" as it does with the standard GSM character set.
So, the total number of characters is reduced 3-fold, without the user noticing, or without having the choice to turn it off.
MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo Santa Rosa 2.4 ghz 4gb ram 160gb hdd + iMac 2.2ghz
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Posts:
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From:
FL
Registered:
Nov 26, 2002
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Re: National characters in SMS app
Posted:
Jul 26, 2008 1:28 PM
in response to: Jose M Olaya
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I see now. I get the impression that in a lot of places, people are used to sending long SMS messages rather than short ones.
MacBook , Mini, Airport Express
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Re: National characters in SMS app
Posted:
Jul 26, 2008 4:11 PM
in response to: Tamara
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That's not the point.. by using unicode they're reducing the number of characters without letting the user know. People think an SMS is 160 characters.. the iphone doesn't tell them it's only 50.
and it's worse when you consider that all important manufacturers do have a way to turn this off so people can write full 160-character SMSes
MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo Santa Rosa 2.4 ghz 4gb ram 160gb hdd + iMac 2.2ghz
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Posts:
16,311
From:
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Registered:
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Posts:
298
Registered:
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Re: National characters in SMS app
Posted:
Jul 27, 2008 2:37 AM
in response to: Tamara
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Yup, as I said above, I did send the feedback as soon as I published this thread.
I wanted to gather thoughts on the topic. 
MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo Santa Rosa 2.4 ghz 4gb ram 160gb hdd + iMac 2.2ghz
Mac OS X (10.5)
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Posts:
2
From:
Bilbao
Registered:
Aug 12, 2008
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Re: National characters in SMS app
Posted:
Aug 12, 2008 5:19 PM
in response to: Jose M Olaya
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Hello from the Basque Country Jose!
Unfortunately all spanish iPhone owners are suffering the same. I heard that in the States AT&T made some changes in their network so sms messages using special characters as ñ or á were billed only once just as a regular sms.
But the spanish carrier does not even have a clue of what is going on with this issue. I've been charged twince and three times for each sms containing ñ or tildes, so I called them yesterday and they said that I have to wait until I receive the first bill so I can, then, make a formal complaint.
I've read in an spanish forum that people have been complaining to Apple (also to the spanish carrier) and at least the first company is well aware of the problem.
It seems that we can only wait until a new update is released for our beloved iPhones. Patience!
P.S. I've found a temporary solution setting the English (US) keyboard as the default one, so no tildes or ñ are written...
Cheers!
MacBook Pro
Mac OS X (10.5.4)
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Posts:
1
From:
Donostia, Spain
Registered:
Aug 18, 2008
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Re: National characters in SMS app
Posted:
Aug 18, 2008 2:46 PM
in response to: Jose M Olaya
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At first excuse me for my English
I have the same problem. I send one sms and I have to pay three.
I called to movistar and they told me that the iphone hasn't character limit but some characteres like ñ and á it changes to unicode and they count more or less like 70 normal character and movistar limit for one sms is 160.
I tried to make a complaint but i have to wait to receive the facture.
Can someone do something about it?
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Posts:
2
From:
Bilbao
Registered:
Aug 12, 2008
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Re: National characters in SMS app
Posted:
Aug 18, 2008 3:41 PM
in response to: Spike85
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Your english is not too bad
I'm afraid you will have to wait until your current billing period is closed and the bill is issued. I think that Movistar (spanish carrier) issues their bills each month on the same date (I'm not sure, but i believe it's on the 18th).
Then, once that you have your bill (you can take a look at it online at movistar's website) you can call and place a complaint. They are already aware of the problem and are refunding their customers for it.
As long as this is a problem from Apple we'll have to wait until Apple releases a new firmware version correcting the ñ problem. Until this happens I'm afraid that we'll have to check every sms that we send and in case it's billed twice, call to our carrier (movistar) for a refund.
Hope this helps, neighbour!
MacBook Pro
Mac OS X (10.5.4)
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Posts:
7
From:
Portugal, Setubal
Registered:
Sep 10, 2008
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Re: National characters in SMS app
Posted:
Sep 22, 2008 7:18 AM
in response to: Jose M Olaya
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Hello, same problem here in Portugal!
Charged twice for an small SMS. Portuguese words have lots of accentuation.
Charater counter is missing????
I have the cheapest in Portugal, and i'm charged for 0.06€ each SMS.
If i send 100 a month i should pay 6€, but whith this problem i can reach 18€
Acer Aspire
Windows XP
Media Center Edition
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