How Too Many SMS Messages Can Shut Down Your Nexus Phone

[dsr12]

http://allthingsd.com/20131129/how-too-many-sms-messages-can-shut-down-your-nexus-phone

[mmastrac]

Now I'm curious: how do you send a class 0 SMS to a phone?

[edent → mmastrac]

It's pretty easy - all you need to do is change the Class of the SMS PDU to 0. I've written a short tutorial in Python showing how it can be done: http://shkspr.mobi/blog/2012/06/raspberry-pi-python-and-3g-d... In this case, I'm using a basic 3G dongle and Raspberry Pi - it should work on any device which allows serial port access.

A few phones have the capability via 3rd party apps - they all seem to be ancient Nokia & BlackBerry devices.

Amusingly, iPhones don't (or didn't) display the sender's number on Flash SMS, so you could text very realistic looking prank messages like "This phone has been recalled - please nearest Apple store" etc.

Flash SMS is a bit like Push To Talk - one of those standards which never quite took off the way it should.

[lloeki → edent]

My bank does send Flash SMSes for 2FA codes as an optional fallback to the chip+pin-card based 2FA keypad, that does both time-based and challenge-response to authenticate the transaction, and is mandatory (i.e no SMS fallback) for adding people's IBAN and outbound transfers.

[edent → lloeki]

Oh! That's a good idea - prevents them from being saved (unless you take screenshots, I guess).

[DanBC → mmastrac]

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/9123125/class-0-sms-flash...

EDIT: This support forum for software mentions some docs http://www.nowsms.com/discus/messages/1/3360.html

[jayhuang → mmastrac]

You might want to take a look at this: https://github.com/virtualabs/ZeroSMS

Edit: DanBC linked to the SO question that links to this

[johw → mmastrac]

There are some API's you can use to send such SMS, e.g. the Tropo API. You don't even need a phone for it, works online https://www.developergarden.com/apis/apis-sdks/telekom-tropo...

[arjie → mmastrac]

Old Nokias can do this too. I know a Nokia 3110 can, for instance.

[dnlrn]

Already fixed in CyanogenMod: http://review.cyanogenmod.org/#/c/54850/

[sixothree]

Jokes on you. My Nexus 4 barely ever receives text messages correctly.

[csmuk → sixothree]

What actually happens? My wife was thinking about getting one and uses SMS all the time so this could be a deal breaker.

[therobotking → csmuk]

I had a Nexus 4 from launch until the Nexus 5 and never had a problem with receiving or sending SMS messages.

I've never heard of it being a common problem either. Your wife should go ahead and get the phone if she wants one.

[kiallmacinnes → therobotking]

Yep - Same here, SMS's have always been perfect. I reckon the GP poster is simply trying to stir..

[csmuk → kiallmacinnes]

Thanks both. I suspected this.

[phaer → csmuk]

I can add one more report: My Nexus 4 has no problems with receiving or sending text messages. Maybe the OP uses a non-standard radio firmware or something?

[mitchell209 → phaer]

Hell, I had no problems with SMS and I was using Facebook Messenger as my default SMS app. I had no problems with the few days I used the stock messaging app.

[barrkel → sixothree]

To a first approximation, the only text messages I get on my N4 are from Google's verification service, but I've never had one received incorrectly - or noticed a failure to receive one.