Macworld: So many SMS messages, so little time to ...

Up to Discussions in iPhone

15 Replies Last post: Nov 8, 2008 8:45 AM by mjew 1 2 Previous Next

Macworld

11,211 posts since
Nov 30, 2007

Oct 6, 2008 1:57 PM

So many SMS messages, so little time to delete them

Post your comments for So many SMS messages, so little time to delete them here

flowney

185 posts since
Mar 14, 2004

1. Oct 6, 2008 2:22 PM

in response to: Macworld

Re: So many SMS messages, so little time to delete them

Applescript on the iPhone? (Steve Jobs swoons in a case of the faux vapors).

PeterG

972 posts since
Jan 17, 2005

2. Oct 6, 2008 2:34 PM

in response to: Macworld

Re: So many SMS messages, so little time to delete them

You have a counter?

I wish they would fix .mac/MM. there is no counter, or sort.

Maybe Mr. Steve could swoon over the paying customers using MM?

http://homepage.mac.com/garratt/PhotoAlbum16.html

heggaton

16 posts since
Apr 3, 2005

3. Oct 6, 2008 2:45 PM

in response to: Macworld

Re: So many SMS messages, so little time to delete them

I would've thought that you could simply delete the 'conversation' - unless you wanted to retain some pre-existing SMS's or the SMS's came from different originating numbers.

manny928

1 posts since
Oct 6, 2008

4. Oct 6, 2008 3:13 PM

in response to: Macworld

Re: So many SMS messages, so little time to delete them

You can delete an entire conversation, but system messages from a network usually come with a unique identifier so it's actually individual conversations. So each time the system notifies you it's a new IM conversation. I get these all the time too and it's a real pain. I would love a 'delete all' option.

SpinThis!

43 posts since
May 3, 2001

5. Oct 6, 2008 3:27 PM

in response to: Macworld

Re: So many SMS messages, so little time to delete them

While we wait for Apple to include this, I got a better idea for you... find the programmer who wrote the monitoring code and have him remove your 185 text messages himself. Then tell him to fix his code so that kind of crap doesn't happen again. Sounds like a monitoring system that cries wolf too often without doing a proper sanity check first.

macmanmk

57 posts since
Feb 18, 2005

6. Oct 6, 2008 4:13 PM

in response to: Macworld

Re: So many SMS messages, so little time to delete them

The same complaint can be leveled against Mail. Why am I given the ability to purge the Trash folder in one fell swoop, but not my Inbox or Sent folders?

tmedia1

397 posts since
Oct 12, 2004

7. Oct 6, 2008 4:41 PM

in response to: Macworld

Re: So many SMS messages, so little time to delete them

Can't believe Apple hasn't addressed these fundamental and basic interface requirements. Deleting 100 emails or text messages on my Palm is simple. On an iPhone, it takes about 15 minutes. Ridiculous!

Filburt

274 posts since
Jul 16, 2001

8. Oct 6, 2008 4:56 PM

in response to: Macworld

Re: So many SMS messages, so little time to delete them

As you know, deleting a text message on an iPhone is a two step process on an iPhone:
1. Swipe the offending message with your finger.
2. Hit the delete button that appears.

I must be missing something because I can't swipe delete even a single text message on my iPhone -- only the entire conversation. Has the author tried what he's suggesting on his iPhone? Or is he using some secret beta firmware that he wasn't supposed to disclose?

stukdog

18 posts since
Oct 20, 2004

9. Oct 6, 2008 8:17 PM

in response to: Macworld

Re: So many SMS messages, so little time to delete them

I'm in the same position when I have servers go down. It's horrible.

I don't know if it helps, but I did notice one thing that helps. If you forward these to the @mobile.att.net address, they all come in as separate SMS messages. But if you send to @mobile.mycingular.com then they all come in under the same sending address.

That has worked for most people I worked with on it. (Even if they didn't have Cingular previous to AT&T)

toblo

1 posts since
Oct 6, 2008

10. Oct 6, 2008 8:45 PM

in response to: Macworld

Re: So many SMS messages, so little time to delete them

I can do this in iPhone standard SMS app:

1. At the SMS correspondent list, tap the Edit button on the top left corner.

2. A round delete button will appear on the left for every corespondent. Tap on the one that you want to delete all messages from.

3. Tap confirm Delete button.

All messages for that correspondent is deleted.

igrok

2 posts since
Oct 7, 2008

11. Oct 7, 2008 5:25 AM

in response to: Macworld

Re: So many SMS messages, so little time to delete them

And to just clear a conversation without deleting the person you're having the conversation with, just hit the "clear" button. It deletes all the texts in that conversation.

mjew

2 posts since
Oct 7, 2008

12. Oct 7, 2008 6:05 AM

in response to: stukdog

Re: So many SMS messages, so little time to delete them

This is an excellent tip! I just tried it, and it is true.
(Although I tested that messages to @mobile.mycingular.net
each come from a unique source, while messages to
@mobile.mycingular.com all come from a single source,
and are thereby considered one "conversation" that can be
deleted or cleared in one action.)
So much more convenient, and sort of avoids the problem.

For those commenters saying to just "delete the entire
conversation", don't forget the author is saying that each
message appears to come from a different "person",
and so are not part of a single conversation.

This tip, however, does make those 100s of messages indeed part of
a single conversation.

leicaman

1,585 posts since
Dec 4, 2003

13. Oct 7, 2008 7:23 AM

in response to: Macworld

Re: So many SMS messages, so little time to delete them

The solutions here are great. But how about having the network send email instead of SMS?

Eric

There are three kinds of men. The ones that learn by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence. - Will Rogers

pgravelle

1 posts since
Nov 8, 2008

14. Nov 8, 2008 8:16 AM

in response to: toblo

Re: So many SMS messages, so little time to delete them

I have this exact same issue and given recent system issues, I receive almost 100 SMS alerts a day; one telling me the system or service is down and the other telling me when it becomes available. As the author stated, this is typical of network monitoring systems.

I don't however understand this solution. When I open SMS I see all my Text Messages. Each one has a unique Subject; in this case a number, but each is from the same email recipient. The only method I know to delete is to tap Edit and then tap EACH AND EVERY red circle on the left in order to tap the red Delete button on the right.

What am I missing?

Thanks!

Paul

Go to original post 1 2 Previous Next

Go to original post

Name	City

Address 1	State	Zip

Address 2	E-mail (optional)

Oct 6, 2008 1:57 PM

So many SMS messages, so little time to delete them

Actions

More Like This