Do Emoji (emoticons) count as extra characters in SMS?
If I use Emoticons in my SMS messages, how does that count toward the 160 character limit?
Do they count as a normal character or do they "cost" extra?
Thanks,
Ryan
Not sure about the emoticons but 4 lines of text is roughly 160 characters ie till you can't see the top line anymore. Not ideal but better than nothing as a rough guide.
Cool tip, thanks. I just tested and you're right! About where the top line scrolls out of view it's approx 160 characters. Maybe your font Setting is different, but for me it's more like six lines of text, rather than four. At least in portrait mode.
One SMS message can hold a "payload" of 140 octets (bytes). When using 7-bit characters (the default SMS alphabet, as the terms goes), a single message can have 160 characters. When using 16-bit Unicode characters, a single message can have 70 characters.
Most phones automatically break long text messages and in reality sends multiple SMSs when required.
Most phones when reciving multipe SMSs, reassemble them automatically so that the recipient sees one long message.
When phones show emoticons as graphic symbols, the SMS has contained multiple characters ( usually two or three, such as ';' followed by '-' which is followed by ')' ) and the messaging software on the phone has replaced it with the graphic. Like this: 😉
Same, if you use a messaging application that allows you to enter/select graphic emoticons, the software converts the graphic to text for sending.
I'm specifically referring to the emoji that iPhones have under the Japanese keyboard option.
I only use them when sending SMS to other iPhones.
I want to know how much they "count" toward the limit so that I don't go over and get charged for a second method. Does each emoticon count as a certain number of standard characters or does having just one emoticon automatically put you into the 70 character limit.
Does anyone know?
Thanks,
Ryan
I think I found the answer!
Using emoji changes the encoding of the entire message to 16 bit.
Therefore, you have a 70 character limit whether you use one emoticon or seventy!
Someone correct me if that's wrong.
