IssueTracker

interesting is thread creates for one number or for one contact? (one contact can
have more than one phone number)

Good question - since the "corrupting MMS" in this case comes from an e-mail address,
the thread is created using the sender's e-mail address.  I'm looking through the
code now to understand how the SMS/MMS messages are stored in the SQLite database -
perhaps this sender's e-mail address or the sheer length of the MMS message causes an
mishandled corner case?

Let me know if I need to clarify further here...

Hello,

I just wanted to comment that I am having the same issue.  

I only realized it was happening after I added a few new contacts or responded to
numbers that were not in my contact list before I received the
announcements@t-mobile.delivery.net... (i'm assuming this is the culprit)

As a result, any reply I make to someone that was newly added or not in my contact
list will not actually send to them (it just starts a thread that is listed as
announcements@t-mobile.delivery.net) and instead sends to the first number on my
contact list...(I have changed this to my own number...)

I don't want to hard reset bc then I will have to reinstall all of my progs...

If I don't reset, I will be annoyed with responding to all new recipients as if they
are a new number being entered into an sms, for each individual reply...

Please fix this...

Thanks

Nehemiah Richardson

This issue is really annoying.

As you can probably tell, it can get you into alot of trouble.

i.e. you texting one of your buddies a joke and your girlfriend ends up getting it
instead. Yeah. Not a happy time.

For those of you following this issue:

I need to have some test cases that "break" the phone.  If you have experienced the
issue reported above, please copy/paste the entire txt of the "corrupting MMS" to
this thread (please feel free to X out any personal information that you don't want
posted here).  Most importantly, we need the exact text of:

* The recipient
* The subject of the MMS (if there was one)
* The body of the MMS

Some of this info is available when you long press on the offending MMS and go to
"View Message Details".

As an example, the one I received was sent by "onlinebanking@alert.bankofamerica.com".

Also, if you or anyone else you know has been affected by this issue, please ask them
to leave their info here.  I'm hoping that if enough of us leave messages, this will
get looked at by the Google engineers.  Please also mention the link to this bug in
other forums that have been reporting this problem.  Thanks.

having same problem

I'm getting the same problem as stated on the post. This happens when I receive MMS from
Innercircle@marketinginnovators.com this is really really annoying, you can't reply, you have to create a
new thread in order for you to reply

I'm having the same issue and I think it was caused by an email from Citibank.
I tried T-Mobile's technical support, but they had no idea about this problem.

This is extremely annoying.  Is anyone working to fix this problem?

Bueller? Bueller?  Is anyone looking at this or am I going to have to rewrite this
thing?

Happening to me too.  It's been like this since I've gotten the phone, and it's
totally annoying.  I'm working around it by not"replying" to texts.  I'm closing the
text and composing a new message to reply.

I *think* it started when I received a picture message.

I had the above issue several weeks ago.  I performed the hard reset as described by
the author and the issue went away.  In my case the source of the mms message was an
alert email from work and I have since disabled it.  The problem has not returned.  

**** Try this at your own risk ***
There is an application on the market called astro which helps you backup the
applications and thus do not have to document every application before a hard reset.  
Astro will backup the applications to the sd card.  This will save time from
searching and re-downloading from the market.  Astro **does not** backup application
data.  You must go into each application and save or export the application data to
the sd card if the option is available.  A hard reset has never erased the sd card
for me.  After the hard reset, reinstall astro and then start re-loading your apps
direct from the sd card.  You can then reload each application data backup if
necessary.

* I did not have astro when I corrected the issue on my g1.  I did have astro when I
hard reset the phone a 2nd time for unrelated issue.*

1 drawback is that the apps reinstalled from sd card do not show up in the market
cache.  So its a little hard to track application updates unless you eventually
reload from the market or use an application like oi update or atrackdog which track
application updates.

Hopefully a fix comes out soon for this issue.

To anyone who currently has this issue and has not yet performed a hard reset:

Version 1.6 of ChompSMS (an SMS application available in the market) currently does
*not* have support for MMS messages.  Please install this application and check to
see if you continue to see the same behavior (threads being merged, SMS's being sent
to wrong recipient).  This will help us isolate whether the issue is with Android's
core MMS application itself *or* the way that the SQLite database stores the messages
(I'm suspecting the latter).

I would try this myself, but I'm currently "MMS Clean" and a little weary of
reinstalling apps (tho thanks to fadeng for his suggestions :)

adamcolon: If you are working on this then we'd appreciate any updates here.  The
good news is that the Google folks have recently done a code drop from the cupcake
branch 12 days ago (as of this writing) that has numerous updates to Android's core
MMS app.  I'm studying the updates now to see if they might have "accidentally" found
and fixed the issue without updating this bug report.

For those interested, the commitdiff for the MMS package is viewable via the web here:
http://android.git.kernel.org/?p=platform/packages/apps/Mms.git;a=commitdiff;h=0f236f55349f070ac94e12cca963847173393da8

I have this issue, and installed ChompSMS today, and it has the same problem as the
built in sms/mms client (messages incorrectly threaded, replies go to the wrong
person). It has the same people mis-threaded as the built in client.

It's incredibly frustrating and makes SMS/MMS essentially useless, I hope it gets
fixed soon.

Just wanted to mention that I have the same problem. I have no idea what caused it,
but I have received some MMS messages since I got the phone. I had mistakenly assumed
that the merged messages didn't mean that replying to the last message wouldn't go to
that person. I learned today that apparently I have been replying and mistakenly
sending lots of messages to the first person in my address book, who I don't know all
that well.

Is there any fix besides a hard reboot? what about uninstalling the app and
reinstalling? is that an option? what about deleting all threads? didn't work for me
to delete SMS's, I will try MMS's and see if that helps.

I have this problem too and it kept texting my landlord >_> the "corrupting" message
for me was onlinealerts@bankofamerica.com

I tried wiping ALL of my messages, still have the same problem. Very frustrating, and
ChompSMS didn't fix it either.

I hoped this would be fixed by the newest Android update, but nope. From the above
info apparently the only way to "fix" it is to hard reset your phone. For me that is
not an option. I am not going to spend hours backing up all my stuff and then hoping
it will all recopy. Ther should be an easier way to fix it.

I do not know what message caused this issue, but I should have all my MMS messages
on the phone, so can potentially assist if necessary using the save mms application.

I did install ChompSMS and it does the same thing, only worse - it gives "internal
error" often when trying to send to groups, then sends the same message out 5 times
without confirmation.

I also have this error.  I am not sure where it came from.  Whats interesting is some
of the people in my contact list who message me are fine.  I can text them back with
no issues.  Thank God my wife is one of them.  No issues.  But certain people in my
contact list, if they text me and I try to reply, it will automatically send my text
reply to the first person in my contact list.  No matter what.  THIS NEEDS TO BE
FIXED.  My phone makes me sad.

I did find a fix.  since it is comming to your phone through
"phonenumber@tmomai.net"  If you delete your number from your tmomail.net email
address than do a master reset it does fix the issue

Hi stinkpickle135,

Can you detail exactly how you did that?  Seems like a good workaround, but I'm not
sure where to delete my number from my tmomail.net address?

Thanks!

That is not actualy a fix, that is a prevention. For people that are already broken
and want to avoid a reset, or already have renamed their phone number and use new
name for some alerts, the problem still remains.

This really needs to get fixed, but even better the fix needs to "uncorreupt" an
already broken SMS environment. Deleting all conversations does not fix future ones,
and once broken CompSMS has the same issues.

I'm willing to go through the pain of resetting my phone ONCE if that's what it takes
once the bug is fixed, but until then I'm living as nightmare as I text all the time.

Yeah I agree with kgbarrett.  I don't want to get a workaround.  I want a code fix.
Even if I reset my phone and do the prevention, the bug might creep up again.  

The master reset is a known work-around that was suggested in the original post back
in November 2008. I ended up doing this because I was sick of not being able to reply
to texts. I have not had the problem since I did the master reset, so I don't know
that this problem still initiates (although obviously it still persists) under the
newest Android release.

I used MyBackupPro and it worked beautifully, even kept my call log and other history
that I didn't even think about.

i have the same problem :(
every new numbers i have in my phone had the onlinebanking from bank of america when
i receive a text message. and the name says teh first person in my contact list.

i took my name off the bank of america list and this still occurs to my phone.
it's really frustrating and annoying becasue i have to delete the thread and start a
whole new one each time i want to text the perosn back

i have the same problem :(
every new numbers i have in my phone had the onlinebanking from bank of america when
i receive a text message. and the name says teh first person in my contact list.

i took my name off the bank of america list and this still occurs to my phone.
it's really frustrating and annoying becasue i have to delete the thread and start a
whole new one each time i want to text the perosn back

Just got the Android v1.5 update (cupcake) and coupled with the newest version of
chompSMS, this problem appears to have disappeared (i.e. new incoming txt messages to
a newly created contact are now threaded properly).  If a couple other people can
confirm, maybe we can close out this bug?

I am experiencing this issue (or maybe some permutation of it): Whenever my spouse
gets an sms from me and exits the conversation thread, the thread changes from my
phone number to "myphonenumber@tmomail.net." Deleting the thread and doing a soft
rest does not fix the issue. The phone is running 1.5.

@jrhowa: Can you clarify who has the issue?  Does your spouse have the Android phone?
 Or do you?  The original was known to start after receiving an MMS message - do you
know if the offending phone received one of these?

Hi, I am having this issue with my new HTC Hero from Sprint. The corrupter is the
onlinebanking@alert.bankofamerica.com messages.

Please don't close this as I believe the HTC Hero is running Cupcake and the issue
still exists.

PLEASE KEEP THIS OPEN! I have a new Sprint HTC Hero and I never used the native
messaging app because of the battery issue. From the beginning I have been using
Hancent. Worked PERFECTLY until I got ONE SMS from
onlinebanking@alert.bankofamerica.com and from then on messages from anyone with whom
I have not yet exchanged messages get added to that one thread even though their name
IS visible with their message in the stack! If my son texts me it comes in under "?"
and is stacked with all the others BUT if I reply to him IMMEDIATELY after he send
the text to me, he DOES get it. It does NOT go to someone else but I am leery of
going BACK to the threads and texting him from their so, as above, I open his contact
and send message from there.

I deleted the threads, I uninstalled Handcent, reinstalled it, uninstalled it,
installed CHOMP, then finally reinstalled Handcent and NOTHING short of a hard reset
will change anything!
This IS still an issue for all these ZILLIONS of new HTC Hero Sprint phones so PLEASE
keep digging!!!!!!!

[Comment deleted]

Is this something HTC will correct? sprint? anyone? its ridic because i was just SURE
that i had some "conversation" or "batchmode" setting that was incorrect. come to
find out- there are people out there w/the same problem..

i would rate myself average (barely) when it comes to being tech-savvy enough to
navigate these phones & features.. and i try to defend sprint/htc a little vs the i-
phone nation... but htc/sprint are ridiculous to leave their customer-base out on the
lurch without any updates for fixes OR a time-line of When these fixes are coming.

2 biggest problems are with their messaging program.
  a) the standard messaging app kills the battery
  b) ANY messaging app isnt capable of receiving an online bank alert w/o taking a              
crap on itself & screwing up the conversation threads. get on this already

Not sure if this is the same issue, but similar. I have new Droid Eris, and seem to be having the issue where
threads are merging. I changed to using Hancent, but same problem.

My issue does NOT stem from receiving a message from the evil BofA, though. I believe it may have started
with a message I sent to my phone from my default work email client. This was sent to my text message alias
at Verizon (myname@vtext.com).

Threads are merging now, but I'm not 100% sure who replies go to. Sometimes it appears they go to the right
person (especially in an ongoing conversation). And I don't know if it's sending messages to the first person
in my contact list. The first person listed is me (my contact card). This is followed by my voice mail setup,
then a bunch of Verizon data numbers (#BAL, #DATA, etc.). Not sure how to tell which gets the reply.

But this issue is over 1 year old now!!! Is this what I have to look forward to with bugs in an 'Open Source'
operating system??? They may lie around for a year or two unless someone steps up to fix them??? Not sure
this looks that great for all the 'Android' hype...

For new folks coming on to this thread: I can understand your frustration.
Previously, I had to work around this by unsubscribing my phone from these types of
e-mails.  In the mean time, in order to make sure someone at the G can work on this
issue, please reply to this thread and include the following:

* The "Model number"
* The "Firmware version"
* The "Kernel version"
* The "Build number"

These four things can be found by going to the home screen then pressing the "Menu"
button, going to "Settings", and then scrolling all the way down to "About phone".

I am running Firmware version 1.6 on a G1 and am not seeing this issue, so I'm
tempted to say this was fixed at one point but not ported in to some of the other
phones / builds that are coming out these days.

Finally, if you or others you know are having this problem, please encourage them to
leave their details in this thread and *STAR THIS THREAD* (upper left corner of this
page).  The more stars, the higher this will rise up the stack.

Hi George,
Good idea... should have included it in my earlier post.

Model:         HTC Hero (Sprint CDMA)
Firmware:      1.5
Kernel:        2.6.27-533ce39d
               htc-kernel@and18-2)
Build #:       1.29.651.1 CL69164 release-keys
software ver:  1.29.651.1
Hardware ver:  0002

I do understand that it can be worked around by unsubscribing to any list that might
cause a problem (BofA, LinkedIn, etc) but we really do need a real fix since one
never knows when you might get a corrupting message.

Thanks

Doug

OK:
Verizon Droid Eris
Model: ADR6200
Firmware: 1.5
Kernel: 2.6.27-e850bba0  htc-kernel@and18-2 #926
Build: 1.12.605.1 CL76938 release-keys

And again, mine wasn't started by a 'subscription' text message, just probably something sent from my work email
client (Mail on Mac if it matters). So maybe it just has to do with receiving texts from email clients, which probably
doesn't happen all that often for most folks due to how hard it was for me to find info about this bug.

I certainly hope that just because this is probably a 'fairly isolated problem', it doesn't sit for another year or two
without being addressed. Being new to an Android phone, how exactly do folks get true support on something like
this, and how do we know if/when it's being addressed?

[Comment deleted]

Well, it seems that almost ANY Email to SMS message can cause this issue.
AND, something VERY odd I has been happening these last two days:
As we all know,ALL new SMS messages from folks without a prior thread goes to the
FIRST thread often started by the Bank of America Alert (or other)..

Since I did NOT turn off any "Alerts" from various companies/sites, what is now
happening is that ANY "Email to SM" message that arrives DOES, in fact, start a NEW
thread for that address, just as it should, and subsequent messages from that email
ARE threaded correctly even as Android FAILS to thread correctly phone generated SMS
messages!!!!!!!!!!!

So now I have all the threads of "real" (meaning telephone generated NOT email
generated) SMS messages that I had before the problem that still thread correctly BUT
now the ONLY NEW threads that get started are from NEW arriving "EMAIL to SMS"
messages!!!!

ALL the telephone generated SMS messages from NEW people go to the VERY FIRST Bank of
America Thread, as do all NEW Bank of America messages BUT I now have three threads
from OBVIOUS email sources; from BankofAmerica.com, Voip.ms and Alarm.net AND they
each continue to get NEW alerts threaded PROPERLY to their respective threads that
did NOT exist before the arrival of my very first email to SMS from B of A...

BUT any SMS that arrives from a phone/person that did NOT have a prior thread STILL
goes into that FIRST Bank of America thread!!!!!! The ONLY NEW threads started are
NOW from EMAIL sources... arrgghhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Strange and Stranger..... anybody got a pill that makes you larger???

Doug

Oh, for any Android Programmers here, Aside from this incorrect threading issue, even
when they are correct (as are these "new" email to SMS threads) these threads, while
correctly identified at the top AFTER you open the thread, have NO identification
when shown in the Thread List.. they are only identified by "..." In the attached
Screenshot you will see the TOP thread that has BofA and SMS messages from my oldest
son and other friends. the second one down has one notice from Voip.ms and the fourth
is from Alarm.net and has two correctly threaded messages in ti and nothing else. The
others are threads from my daughter  wife and youngest son correctly threaded and
threading. Please note that AL three have only the ... as identifiers (and maybe som
text)

 I would think that at the very least it should show the beginning of the
email address as it does when the thread is opened, no? Thanks

I'm glad I found this thread, although maybe not since it doesn't seem that there is
a solution yet. I have had my Sprint HERO for a month or so now, and I have this same
issue, with the usual Bank of America alerts. I hard reset my phone, and disabled the
alerts to prevent it from happening again, that we shouldn't have to do that. My
phone info is as follows:

Model:         HTC Hero (Sprint CDMA)
Firmware:      1.5
Kernel:        2.6.27-533ce29d
               htc-kernel@and18-2)
Build #:       1.29.651.1 CL69164 release-keys
software ver:  1.29.651.1
Hardware ver:  0002

[Comment deleted]

Had this happen today. What a potential nightmare! Incoming thread that caused the
problem came from a standard mms from a Verizon phone containing a picture from said
phone.

I am Having the Same Issue, does anyone have any updates yet? Do we know if there is
one in the works? HTC is normally Pretty Good and Fixing things ASAP

I have the same issue.  Getting BoA alerts broke the SMS.  Please, there needs to be
a better fix than restoring to factory defaults!

hi, ive had the same problem with the Bank of America alerts. i hard reset my HTC
Hero today and it really wasnt that bad all the apps i downloaded were still in
the "My Downloads" of the Market, i just had to reinstall them. all of my contacts
were saved on my google account and they all came right back up as soon as i set up
my google account after the hard reset. all my music, pictures, and videos were
still on my SD card and went right back in my albums. i just had to change back my
wallpapers, reorganize my apps on my home screens and set up my voice mail.
seriously its not that bad. however i was wondering if anyone has heard or seen
corrupting SMS messages from Yahoo Mail alerts? I haven't myself but i'm a little
weary to send them to my phone.

Anthony,
Glad it's working for you but it is not just Bank of America alerts that cause this.
There are numerous sources. Linkedin messages cause it as do alerts/messages from
other sites and some people have had it happen by just sending an "email to SMS"
message to themselves...... Heck it might be ANY "email to SMS" message!
So while a hard reset is fine to get things running fine but it won't stop the
problem from returning.. You CAN make sure that after the hard reset you send and
receive a TXT message from most/all of the people you usually contact and those will
all thread correctly even if you DO get another corrupting message, but a hard reset
and canceling the BofA alerts is not a "real" solution.

Model:         HTC Hero (Sprint CDMA)
Firmware:      1.5
Kernel:        2.6.27-533ce29d
               htc-kernel@and18-2)
Build #:       1.29.651.2 CL85027 release-keys
software ver:  1.56.651.1
Hardware ver:  0002

Really wish I could add something to this post other than saying I have the same
problem.  Its a shame that this has been ongoing for over a year.  I have deleted
BoA as this was my culprit too.  It is no longer in my contacts and all SMS were
deleted.  However, the situation continues and everytime someone texts me (contacts
added after the issue) they all get added to one message thread.  Bank of America
still appears as the thread title.  

Any chance this will ever get fixed?  I dont want to wait until my hero gets 2.0
sometime in mid 2010.

Thanks

same stupid problem apparently triggered by BofA alert.
Model:         HTC Hero (Sprint CDMA)
Firmware:      1.5
Kernel:        2.6.27-533ce29d
               htc-kernal@and12-2)
Build #:       1.56.651.2 CL85027 release-keys
Software ver:  1.56.651.2
Hardware ver:  0002

PLEASE GOOGLE/HTC FIX THIS I DON'T WANT TO HAVE TO DROP THIS PHONE FOR SOMETHING ELSE!

[Comment deleted]

I have a Droid on 2.0.1 and experience this same issue, and do not subscribe to any
lists, BofA/LinkedIn/etc. Here is my info:

Model:         Motorola Sholes (Verizon Droid)
Firmware:      2.0.1
Kernel:        2.6.29-omap1-g0dd7e0b
               android-build@apa26 #511
Build number:  ESD56
 

Model:         HTC Hero (Sprint)
Firmware:      1.5
Kernel:        2.6.27-533ce29d
               htc-kernel@and18-2)
Build #:       1.56.651.2 CL85027 release-keys
software ver:  1.56.651.1
Hardware ver:  0002

THIS IS DRIVING ME AND MY FAMILY CRAZY SINCE I LOVE TEXTING!!! If this isn't fixed I'm going to
have to change my family back to the i-phone. Sorry Google...
Really wish I could add something to this post and not just a complaint buy I have un-installed
and re-installed and tried everything I can think of but the BOA thread still gets lumped intp
my texts.

WOAH!!!!!!!!!! This is happening on Android 2.0???????? on a Droid???

To CBParker: did you get a text from an email source that stated the issue? Can you
determine WHAT started it on the Droid???

The consensus on all the lists that touch on this was that Google dropped the issue
because it was "fixed" by moving to 1.6 and above! So no need to "repair" since
everyone but anyone "locked to HTC"/"Forced to stay with 1.5" would just upgrade but
if this is happening on 2.0.x then it needs to be addressed more than is has been...
Or folks will depart Android. Me? I have no choice but to stick with Sprint so...

For those that want to try a workaround here is what some of us are going to try:

1.) CANCEL all text message alerts. for me that means BofA and NextAlarm and a couple
of others, leaving in place the same companies' email alerts that will still show up
in Gmail.

2.) Hard reset the phone. Erase EVERYTHING and reinstall your contacts, (reinstalling
everything else can wait until after step 3 and a complete reinstall is not not hard
with the right backup utilities.)

3.) IMMEDIATELY send a text to, and BEG for an IMMEDIATE a reply from, ANYONE that
one normally texts with, and I mean ANYONE. This will create a distinct thread for
them and all future texts from/with them will be threaded perfectly.

4.) PRAY that Google actually reads this thread and actually cares....

Doug

This started happening for me as well. Have yet to hard reset anything. I am not
subscribed to any lists, though could have had email from work sent as SMS
(phone#@messaging.sprintpcs.com).

Model:         HTC Hero (Sprint)
Firmware:      1.5
Kernel:        2.6.27-533ce29d
               htc-kernel@and18-2)
Build #:       1.56.651.2 CL85027 release-keys
software ver:  1.56.651.2
Hardware ver:  0002

[Comment deleted]

The fix I found for this was to block this announcements@t-mobile.delivery.net from sms alerts.  
Although, I still had to do a factory reset, it didn't happen again.  For some reason it looks like certain
sms alerts that are originally generated as emails cause this error to occur.  At some point I must have
signed up for tmobile sms alerts.  

I saw a few other culprits on this thread, bank of america message and so on.  

I hope this helps.  

Nehemiah richardson

This exact issue is now happening on my motorola droid. I can recall that it started
immediatelly have i sent an MMS (picture) to six recipients in a distribution using
handcent SMS.

OK, I did the "FIX"... (not realy a fix but quite usable)
FIRST and FOREMOST I purchased MyBackup Pro and saved everything to the card, saved
the data online. I then made sure that I stopped all "email to text" alerts from BofA
and Next Alarm etc, (I left in place their email alerts so I get them all in Gmail
anyway) and then I did a hard reset.

The restore went very smoothly and reasonably quickly, it even remember all my icons
on each page, even folder contents! I just had to reset the wallpaper! My Backup Pro
rocks!

Anyway, I then IMMEDIATELY sent texts asking for a short but immediate reply to
everyone I usually text with (in case I later get some random corrupting message) and
now I have proper threads form everyone I care about.. so if it screws up again, it
really won't be an issue. I know this won't help some of you but SMS is something I
do a lot but only with a handful of people.

So far so good. everything is threading perfect.... (knock on silicon)

That said, if this is still happening in Android 2.0 something HAS to be done....

Doug

Here is a screenshot from my Droid. Notice that the conversation window has the
person's name at the top as they are a saved contact. But the text message that shows
up inside the window is from somebody else, whose number I have not saved in my
contacts (as it just shows their phone number).

My wife's Hero is having the same issue.  I just turned off all BoA alerts to SMS
and will try the reset tonight when I see her.

Model:         HTC Hero (Sprint)
Firmware:      1.5
Kernel:        2.6.27-533ce29d
               htc-kernel@and18-2)
Build #:       1.56.651.2 CL85027 release-keys
software ver:  1.56.651.2
Hardware ver:  0002

Just confirmed that the standard unlocked Nexus One is also merging threads.
Screenshot attached.

Having the same problem apparently triggered by a BofA alert.

Model:         HTC Hero (Sprint CDMA)
Firmware:      1.5
Kernel:        2.6.27-533ce29d
               htc-kernal@and12-2)
Build #:       1.56.651.2 CL85027 release-keys
Software ver:  1.56.651.2
Hardware ver:  0002

Although doing a hard reset and unsubscribing to potential corrupting message alerts
may fix the problem, I refuse to go that route just yet.  Especially since another
message could be sent at ANY time that could cause me to have to do it all over again.

This is something that should be immediately addressed by the 'powers that be' or at
least some techie who loves to the hero of the day...lol.

I'm curious as to why this problem is set to "MEDIUM" priority...  This bug seems to be
something that quite a few people have... Please upgrade the priority to "SEVERE" or
something that will get this problem fixed before a year and a half has passed!

I am also having this issue on HTC Hero (Sprint). Issue caused by a bank
notification: confirmation@service.onlinebank.com.

To recap:
SMS/MMS threading worked fine for recipients/senders 1,2,3,4 and 5. Then I received
the "corrupting SMS" from the above email address. Now any SMS/MMS I receive from
senders 6,7,8,9, and 10 all get lumped into the same group
(confirmation@service.onlinebank.com's group). "Quick Reply" (I'm using Handcent
SMS, but the issue exists in the native messaging program as well) works fine. But
replying from the thread itself attempts to send my reply to
confirmation@service.onlinebank.com, not the intended recipient.


Model Number:          HTC Hero
Firmware Version:      1.5
Kernel Version:        2.6.27-533ce29d
                       htc-kernel@and18-2
Build Number:          1.56.651.2 CL85027 release-keys
Software Version:      1.56.651.2
Hardware Version:      0002

Model number: HTC Hero

I have this same problem... please fix soon this is annoying

I have the same issue on an HTC Hero with Sprint and it appears to have been
triggered from messages sent by continental.com.  Glad to have finally found this
thread and to know its not just me having the issue, but extremely annoying to find
out its been going on for so long with no resolution.

I have a Motorola Droid, and I've had this problem since a few days after I got this
phone. I am not subscribed to **ANY** automatic SMS/MMS notifications, and this
seems to happen after I receive or send multimedia messages ONLY. Info follows.

Model Number: Droid
Firmware Version: 2.0.1
Kernel Version: 2.6.29-omap1-g0dd7e0b
                android-build@apa26 #511
Build Number: ESD56

I love my Droid, but this is so annoying I would consider switching to the iPhone.

Eris Verizon ADR6200
Firm 1.5
Kernel 2.6.27-c77ff39d
htc-kernel@and18-2 release-keys
Build 1.17.605.1

FYI: This started happening to me when I received an SMS Text from a number that was
not in contacts. It attached the text (merged) into the most recent thread with an
existing contact. This has persisted since I added the contact.

Now, it is random as to whom it merges, but tends to "favor" several culprits.

I am in the process of hard deleting (since you can't effectively mass delete texts)
using App from Market "Delete old messages"

Hopefully that will work.

PS, I dont have incoming emails into this SMS, nor do I or will I ever use Bank of
America. (Get a life and use a Credit Union' start getting interest on your money,
dummy)

Model Number: Droid
Firmware Version: 2.0.1
Kernel Version: 2.6.29-omap1-g0dd7e0b
                android-build@apa26 #511
Build Number: ESD56

I am experiencing the same problem on a Droid

My wife's phone is having the same issue.

Model: HTC Hero (Sprint CDMA)
Firmware: 1.5
Kernel: 2.6.27-533ce29d htc-kernel@and18-2
Build: 1.56.651.2 CL85027 release-keys
Software Version: 1.56.651.2
Hardware Version: 0002

Was, as we all know by now, triggered by an email to sms message, although the
offending source has since been deleted. How is there still not a fix for this?

my eris is doing the same thing. I am glad to hear that it is on other carriers
phones too only because then it is not an eris issue but an android issue. I now
have a separate thread for bank of america, (btw- b of a is cool, they text updated
avail. balance everyday or anytime you like.... so that you don't have to check
website daily if you are on the go all of the time like me) and a separate thread
FOR EVERYONE ELSE!!!! I long press each text and select "send sms to **cell
number**" to reply, annoying but works all of the time. this does not work in
handcent unfortunately. i wish it did.
model: HTC eris adr6200
Firmware:1.5
build:1.17.605.1 cl104882 release keys
kernel:2.6.27-c77ff39dhtc-kernel@and18-2 )
Software:1.17.605.1
Hardware:0002

[Comment deleted]

[Comment deleted]

[Comment deleted]

[Comment deleted]

An onlinebanking message from BofA corrupted my phone the day I activated it several
months ago. Sprint was no help so I decided to do a search and find out if anyone
else had the same problem. Wow! Anyone got an idea how we can escalate the priority
on this before we pass the two-year anniversary of it being reported? If 1.5 and
2.0.1 have the problem as I see above, someone on the android team needs to give us
an update on what is being done to resolve this KNOWN PROBLEM and when they plan on
having an update to resolve it for everyone without resetting our phones. I hope that
anyone that has been telling family, friends and co-workers about how they "love"
their android phone will start telling them how little they care about resolving
issues for their customers. Maybe the "negative" word-of-mouth with eventually get us
some results???

Model:         HTC Hero (Sprint)
Firmware:      1.5
Baseband Ver.  1.04.01.09.21
Kernel:        2.6.27-533ce29d
               htc-kernel@and18-2)
Build #:       1.56.651.2 CL85027 release-keys
software ver:  1.56.651.2
Hardware ver:  0002

Same issue... HTC Hero, Sprint... BoA alerts causing all SMS to merge into the same thread.

*** VIP *** The default sort for issues on this site is by number of stars. It does
not appear that this alone will escalate this issue, but it will help all of us track
the issue and any resolution that will hopefully be happening soon! At the bottom of
the page you should find a white star followed by... "Vote for this issue and get
email change notifications". Click on the star and it should turn yellow and add your
comments along with your phone info

The status, which the administrators of this site have the authority to change, can
be New, Needs Info, Reviewed, Unassigned, or Assigned. This issue, which started back
in 2008 still has a status on here as "New". It hasn't even been "Reviewed" or
"Assigned"! That is just SAD! After reading most of the comments on this issue, I
think a lot of people are just as frustrated/upset about this as I am.  

FYI - This issue currently ONLY has 39 stars. The top two highest starred issues have
nearly 3000 stars each, but they are for NEW Enhancements. Both still have a status
of "New" and a priority of "Medium". Additionally, there are currently 4745 issues
and 4313 are still listed as "New". 323 are reviewed (2 are high priority, 1 is low
and 320 are medium like our issue here). 44 "Need Info". 25 are "Unassigned". 40 are
"Assigned" (mostly "Medium" priority and a few "Small"). We need to get the status
changed to "High" and this reviewed and "Assigned" ASAP! Existing issues need to take
priority over new enhancements!  

Please forward the a link to this issue to anyone you know with a similar problem and
ask them to star/vote for this issue and leave a brief comment.

http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=1233&sort=-stars%20id&colspec=ID%20Type%20Status%20Owner%20Summary%20Stars&start=200

If you have an idea of how to escalate this issue and get it resolved, please add
your comment so we can all do our part to help get this resolved ASAP.

Please remember to follow the instructions stated in Comment 36 by george.mantaring,
Nov 12, 2009 (Also the person that started this thread and did a great job of
explaining it for Google so it could be addressed). Please be sure to insert your
phone info and a brief description of the issue so this can get the attention it
deserves and be resolved without having to reset our phones. Thanks!

Model:         HTC Hero (Sprint)
Firmware:      1.5
Baseband Ver.  1.04.01.09.21
Kernel:        2.6.27-533ce29d
               htc-kernel@and18-2)
Build #:       1.56.651.2 CL85027 release-keys
software ver:  1.56.651.2
Hardware ver:  0002

I have one other issue with my phone and I am about to search and see if there is a
thread that has already been started on it, but I figured I'd touch on it here to see
if anyone else has a similar issue. Maybe it's somehow connected to this messaging
issue. If I power off my phone or the battery goes dead before I can charge it
(happened only once, but either way), I have serious problems when I start the phone
up again. I get dozens of "Force Close" pop up's (OS programs as well as apps), but
after forcing those all closed, I do not have network communications. I cannot call
anyone or send/receive any data on the "cell" network. I can however send/receive
data if I turn on my Wi-Fi connection. (I in no way want to turn this thread into a
multi-issue ClusterF___, but since these are the only two issue I am having with my
phone, I wanted to mention it here and see if anyone else was experiencing both
issues. VIP-Your carrier may NOT have a fix other than a master reset. I have fixed
this about a half-dozen times by removing recently added apps and pulling the battery
out without powering off the phone. This has never worked the first few times. I have
had to remove additional apps that I really don't use or don't use that often, then
pull the battery and reboot the phone. Usually gets resolved after 3-5 tries. This
beats a master reset! BTW - I have 8GB Micro SD card that is only using a fraction of
the storage and I usually have btwn 60-70 apps installed according to Astro when I
backup my apps. I realize everyone has different apps on their phone and one alone
could be causing this problem, but unless someone starts a thread on it like
george.mantaring did on this MMS topic, we don't know how widespread of a problem it
might be. I will search for my network connectivity issue and add my comments there
or create a separate thread if I cannot find anything.)  



 

I have been going nuts trying to decipher the issue with SMS threading in my brand
new HTC Hero (Sprint) until I found this.

I can't believe as a developer and as a user that this bug has been opened since 2008
and hasn't got any traction at all.

I second same0same0 suggestion to try making this issue more visible by voting and
sending the requested information (see Comment 36 by george.mantaring, Nov 12, 2009)

Model:         HTC Hero (Sprint)
Firmware:      1.5
Baseband Ver.  1.04.01.09.21
Kernel:        2.6.27-533ce29d
               htc-kernel@and18-2)
Build #:       1.56.651.2 CL85027 release-keys
software ver:  1.56.651.2
Hardware ver:  0002

I have been having the same problem as well. Very confusing to family and friends. I
am not signed up for any email notifications. It seems to happen when I get texts
from people that I haven't heard from in a while. All of my usual friends texts stay
in their own thread, but if I get a message from someone else then they all start
merging and I have to delete all the text messages in the message app and start over.
Hopefully this can be fixed very soon!
Firmware:      1.5
Baseband Ver.  1.04.01.09.21
Kernel:        2.6.27-533ce29d
               htc-kernel@and18-2)
Build #:       1.56.651.2 CL85027 release-keys
software ver:  1.56.651.2
Hardware ver:  0002

I am having the same issue with the BOA text messages. VERY, VERY ANNOYING!!! Just
another reason why we need the 2.1 upgrade!!!

Please fix this.  I'm about to dump Android.  It's not even because of the issue but
because of the fact that this issue seems to have been ignored for almost 2 YEARS!!!!  
I use my phone for business and I get a lot of text messages.  This is unacceptable.  
I'd rather the threading function just be eliminated than put up with this crap.  

well this is still happening. wtf is wrong with google?

Ok guys, I have a similar problem. I am on N1 Froyo, 2.2

Let me take some time to explain this.

I get a lot of SMS from my bank / mobile service provider / Marketing SPAM, etc.

Almost all of these use non-numeric numbers. I am attaching some screenshots for reference.

Chain of events:
1. I get a SMS from my Bank which uses the short code: TD-Barclays. Fine. SMS comes in fine. In the main SMS list, the contact is shown as TD-Barclays and when you open the SMS, the sender is also TD-Barclays. All very well till here! :)
2. I get ANOTHER SMS which is a marketing SPAM from TD-CK Jeans! Problem! In the main SMS List, contact TD-Barclays becomes bold to indicate it has another SMS! When I open the message, I can see TD-CK Jeans inside.
3. I get ANOTHER SMS from My Vodafone and it gets threaded into the above TWO.

Item1 :
If I were to see the main SMS list, there would one contact TD-Barclays with 3 Messages!!!! See screenshot Main.png
Item2 :
When I open this contact thread, there are 3 SMS from DIFFERENT senders! See screenshot: Inside.png

I have seen variants of this issue in many issue numbers on this site, but so far nobody has come with an answer!

This is sad that such an amazing OS like the android is faltering on such basic stuff. C'mon, even the cheapest of Nokias of the world can handle this without any 'modding'.

I sincerely hope that Google and gang move fast to fix such annoying bugs quickly!

I'm getting messages duplicated with sender name as first word from the message with non-numeric sender name. what a shame it is still not fixed!!

FYI - might be getting some exposure due to this newly filed bug:
http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=9392

Those who are still experiencing this problem should "star" Issue 36918804 as well - I believe these two issues are related.

To the Google Developers (or any other developers) who might be looking into this problem:

It seems like there are several issues associated with SMS/MMS messaging, which makes it hard to know if we're talking about one problem that just manifests itself differently or if we are really talking about several different problems.

As you review the other threads, there are some key things to keep in mind:

*  The problem can occur on any SMS/MMS client.  While it most often occurs with the stock client, it has happened with others like Handcent.
*  Some have suggested that the problem has to do with threading.  I believe that's the case.  More specifically, I believe that one possible problem is a static variable in the ComposeMessageActivity.java class.  I'm not saying that's *the* problem, but I suspect it is a contributor.  
*  Replicating the bug in 2.2 is harder than in 2.1, because of a code change made in June, 2010.  But in the 2.1 code, the best way to replicate this is to send and receive a LOT of texts to a lot of different people.  When you are sending, make sure you have a name entered in the "compose window".  And when you get a new message, just send what you have.  This problem is hard to replicate, but it is reproducible, especially under 2.1..  
*  The problem seems to occur most often why you are doing something that doesn't involve a 7- or 10-digit phone number.  So a message to/from 12345 or to/from abc@xzy.com is more likely to produce an error than one with a regular phone number.
*  Your number matching algorithm is flawed, as pointed out by Desingnz in the, now closed, Nexus One thread associated with this issue.  It matches based on a certain, limited number of digits, and can lead to problems.

I hope this helps.

Steven1015 / ScratchSF

This show how Google Cared for Reported bug / unless people dont fire them they never visit this Bug Tracker site

I HATE GOOGLE ENGINEERS for being too Rude

@Steven1015: I think what you are referring to can be found here too:
http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=3048

I am copying the relevant content here so that people dont have to view different links.

Quote
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Reported by lonny.selinger, Jun 18, 2009

If a contact number gets entered wrong initially (or you sync a poorly
formatted phone number for a contact), there is no way to remove the old
reference from what I can tell. The way I found this was, I had a contact
with a number formatted as: 5551212. I realised that for texting I would
need to have the full number (+15555551212) so I tried editing the contact
with the new number. In the address book I could successfully send a
message, however when I replied to a reply that I got form that number it
showed the original 5551212 number and would not send. I tried removing and
recreating, completely redoing my contacts through gmail etc but nothing
worked.

To Reproduce:
1. From the 'New Message' screen send a message to '5551212'.
2. From the 'Conversation List' screen delete the thread for '5551212'.
3. From the 'New Message' screen send a message to '+13065551212'. If you
check the message it has gone out correctly to '+13065551212'.
4. Go back to the Conversation List screen and you'll see that the thread
is now called '5551212'.
5. Go to the thread '5551212' from the Conversation List screen and then
send another message. You'll see that the message goes to '5551212' and not
'+13065551212'.

Here's some info I got from Martin at ChompSMS:

"When you send or receive an SMS Message Android stores the number if it
doesn't exist in it's messaging database.Android considers 2 numbers to be
equal by matching the last 5 digits of the phone number. So in this case
Android had '5551212' stored in it's database, then it saw the number
'+13065551212' and considers the 2 numbers to be equal.

The best way forward unfortunately is to delete the database table that
stores the numbers is to 'Factory Reset' the phone, deleting all
conversations doesn't delete the database table that stores the phone
numbers and chomp as an application can't delete the database table."

... and that is how I resolved the issue. I did a factory reset and import
the data correctly from the onset and all works well now.

I'm not sure if this is a bug really but it would be nice if at all
possible to add the option to purge that table data when creating accounts
just in case something like this happens again.

Comment 2 by jason.laughlin, Jul 13, 2009

If you have root and/or the SDK, I've found a solution that doesn't require doing a
factory reset.  I haven't seen any ill effects yet.

I'm running the JF1.5 build for my ADP1.

#################

using either terminal emulator or adb shell:

> sqlite3 /data/data/com.android.providers.telephony/databases/mmssms.db

sqlite> .tables
addr                 part                 sms                
android_metadata     pdu                  sr_pending        
attachments          pending_msgs         threads            
canonical_addresses  rate              
drm                  raw

sqlite> .schema canonical_addresses                    
CREATE TABLE canonical_addresses (_id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,address TEXT);


sqlite> SELECT * FROM canonical_addresses;
1|0119195551212
2|9195551212


## Notice the order of the two numbers.  ID1 would always take display
precedence over ID2, and was the number used for replies even though I could
compose a message directly to ID2.

## My solution:

sqlite> DELETE FROM canonical_addresses;

## I'd previously emptied my message threads.  When I went in to compose a new
message, sent to my desired contact, went to the list view of all threads, and
selected this thread, the desired number finally shows up!

sqlite> SELECT * FROM canonical_addresses;
1|9195551212


I hope that helps!
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Unquote

I think the key to this issue lies here:

"When you send or receive an SMS Message Android stores the number if it
doesn't exist in it's messaging database.Android considers 2 numbers to be
equal by matching the last 5 digits of the phone number."

I seriously hope that SOMEONE in Google is actually reading this and doing something about it.

I am also curious to know whether they (Google employees using an Android phone) are facing this problem or not!!

Guys, look at http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=9392 and its filled with similar issues as the current issue listed here.

Its become one of the most starred issue now. Please star this too. Hopefully somebody will take notice!

I agree with Comment 89 by yourkoolpal, I am having the same trouble as I have a phone number that was wrong but then corrected and MMS and SMS appear to hold on to the new AND the old translation.  I DO NOT want to do a factory reset.

I tool that shows us the thread information and allows to delete it would be a start.  This causes us a knock on impact to other MMS/SMS clients and would explain why we see it in those as well.

Thank you for reporting this issue.  The detailed descriptions and screenshots were very helpful in reproducing and diagnosing it.  This issue only happens when you receive SMS messages from senders who have alphanumeric addresses that are not email addresses (e.g. "Vodafone").  We have a fix for it and we will be deploying it soon.

Thank you for patience while we address this issue and thanks for helping us improve Android.

Has this been fixed?

I want to share my story: I sent a message to a friend that went to my girlfriend. We broke up because of the mistrust after that message. Can't change the fact that we broke up but google can save people from this in the future.

I was using Sprint Evo and I had to cancel my service I was so OUTRAGED!

TO ECHO: HAS THIS BEEN FIXED?

Yes in 2.3.3

Oh, and the same happened to me, a txt went to my psycho GF that was about her and not to her, caused no end of problems, thanks Google!

Pleaaaaase fix this!!!!