With all of the different types of smartphones on the market today, it’s no wonder that some functions work one way on one device and completely differently on another.
While there are many functions that are consistent across all devices, there are still those quirks we come across and need to figure out. This post is for those who have discovered a new quirk with their Android device — in this case it’s an MMS error — and want to know how to fix it.
MMS Error on Android
Apparently, there’s a bug in Android that causes MMS to fail. In order to fix it, you need to reset the media cache.
Basically, if a new message shows up on your Android device that says, “Your message has been received. The recipient of this message is *%s*. If you would like to receive a copy of this message instead, please enter *#0812#* in the command field and hit Enter. Your message has been delivered.” — all you have to do is hit Return and then go back to using your full recipient info and change the * on the first line to a number.
A quick scan through your Android device will likely turn up lots of messages and devices that will have this error.
Nevertheless, if you notice this on any of your recent messages and you are sure that it’s this bug — it would be a good idea to go through all your messages, contacts, and device settings to see when certain files were last updated.
Sometimes when a new message has been received, it can cause your contacts or devices to display a photo from the recipient’s Camera Roll that has been uploaded previously. If you find that this is the cause of this bug, then clearing all cache should fix it. You can use any app that will allow you to delete anything from your device.
Another common Android bug that causes additional text to show up is when a file is sharing from another app on your device to your mobile device. Additionally, Google Photos may cause text and photos to show up as a picture from that photo’s camera roll, even if the photo was actually taken from your device. To fix this, go to your sharing settings — go to Gallery and then select, “Edit photos before sending.
What you need to do if your phone is having MMS issues
If your phone is experiencing MMS issues like “failed to download attachment from multimedia message”, where you can’t send or receive any picture messages, the first thing that you need to do is check with your friends and family to make sure that they’re experiencing the same issue.
If they are, then your MMS settings need to be updated on their devices. To update the MMS on your device, open the Settings app or go to the less-than-familiar Control center, where you should find a list of notification options, including the option to check for updates.
Tap on the update option for your phone’s icon or icon image, then tap on the Updated.
This should bring up some information about your phone’s current MMS settings. For some phones, you might only see the icon of a checkbox next to the Notifications section with the text messages in the background. If this is the case, just check that box to accept all new messages from that contact.
If not, scroll down to the MMS update section and tap on the checkbox next to Messages & Snacks to accept all new updates for your phone’s MMS (picture message) sending and receiving capabilities.
If all of your friends and family members are still having problems sending and receiving MMS messages, there are a few things that you can try.
The first method for dealing with the problem involves going to the Settings application on your phone (Settings -> About phone) and searching for the section MMS.
You should see the MMS in the list of available types of apps. Swipe to the list and tap on the FAQ entry.
You should see a message saying that your Google account is not authorized to send or receive MMS. If both of these requirements have been met, try updating your Google account.
If multiple people have reported a problem with MMS, it’s likely that your accounts are incompatible. Try clearing your cache, looking for a manual option, or installing the Google Authenticator app.
