What is SMS & MMS? | SMS vs. MMS Messaging | T-Mobile (2024)

FAQs

What is SMS & MMS? | SMS vs. MMS Messaging | T-Mobile? ›

What's the difference between SMS vs. MMS? A text message of up to 160 characters without an attached file is known as an SMS, while a text that includes a file—like a picture, video, emoji, or a website link—becomes an MMS.

The choice between the two depends largely on your campaign objectives and the type of message you want to send. SMS is great for sending short, text-only messages and tends to be cheaper, while MMS allows for the inclusion of multimedia content such as images, GIFs, and videos.

If you're sending a plain text message without any multimedia attachments, your phone will use SMS. On the other hand, if you include multimedia content such as images or videos, your phone will switch to MMS to accommodate the additional data.

What's the Difference Between SMS and Text Messages? The first and biggest thing to know about the difference between SMS and text messages is that there is no difference. SMS, or Short Message Service, is a form of text message that's sent from one device to another.

You can send and receive text (SMS) and multimedia (MMS) messages through the Messages app . Messages are considered texts and don't count toward your data usage. Your data usage is also free when you turn on chat features.

It depends on the type of message you want to send. SMS is best for short messages such as reminders, notifications, and promotional offers. MMS is better for longer or more complex messages like images, videos, audio clips, or links to external websites.

Most modern mobile devices can receive both SMS and MMS messages. However, older devices and those with limited functionalities may only support SMS messaging. Additionally, only devices with an active data connection can receive MMS messages, as they require internet access to transmit multimedia content.

When your message includes emojis, special characters, or exceeds the character limit, it automatically converts to MMS.

Update Your Messaging App Settings: Go into your messaging app settings and make sure that SMS is selected as the default messaging option. You may need to disable the MMS option to ensure that only SMS messages are sent.

There are a lot of great reasons to enable MMS on your iPhone. As the name implies, MMS is a smarter and more convenient way to send multimedia assets from your phone because you can embed these assets within the messages themselves.

Do I get charged for SMS messages? ›

SMS and MMS carrier fees are additional costs charged by wireless carriers. These fees vary per message and number type. For example, some carriers only charge fees for messages sent on toll-free numbers. Others charge for both sent and received messages on short codes.

So, the “Sent as SMS via server” text receipt appears when users send RCS messages on Android's messaging app. What this can also mean is that the message is sent through an intermediary third-party service rather than from your phone directly for reasons like preventing text message delay.

Advantages to SMS

SMS messages are short and sweet. Because of the 160 character limit, they don't require a lot of time or energy. SMS messages are cheaper to send than MMS messages. Most carriers in the U.S. offer plans with unlimited texting, so there is likely no cost to your subscribers.

A text message of up to 160 characters without an attached file is known as an SMS, while a text that includes a file—like a picture, video, emoji, or a website link—becomes an MMS.

Ability to send media

This is the most significant difference between SMS and MMS. MMS allows you to send media such as GIFs, videos, audio, and pictures, making it a more engaging messaging service compared to SMS.

If you simply want to communicate information with somebody else, then you may want to use an SMS message. It is shorter, easier to send, and more straightforward for someone to interpret. However, if you have additional content that you want to include, you may be better off using an MMS message.

Any message over the maximum size (sometimes 160 characters) will automatically be sent as an MMS. There are alternative third party applications available from the Play Store through which you can send large and multiple messages as SMS insteading of converting to MMS.

SMS messages are unsafe because they lack end-to-end encryption or E2EE. Not only can your phone provider view all the texts you send and receive, but so can other organizations and people.