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Configurable SMS segment limit / warning before sending

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#733 0 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

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Assessment

Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Newbie friendliness
42/100
Issue type
Feature
Clarity
Clearly specified
Activity status
Stale
Tech stack
android, kotlin
Domain
mobile, mobile-dev

Research direction

This is a new Settings plus send-path feature, not a one-file tweak. Start from the existing outgoing-message settings (character counter and “Send long messages as MMS”) and the send path that already calls SmsManager.divideMessage() to count segments. Wire a confirmation dialog when the count exceeds a configurable warning threshold, then an optional hard cap that blocks send. Done means both options appear under Settings → Outgoing messages and sending respects them. The issue is 205 days old with no comments, so confirm with maintainers before building.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Description

feature request needs triage
Checklist
  • I made sure that there are no existing issues - open or closed - to which I could contribute my information.
  • I made sure that there are no existing discussions - open or closed - to which I could contribute my information.
  • I have read the FAQs inside the app (Menu -> About -> FAQs) and my problem isn't listed.
  • I have taken the time to fill in all the required details. I understand that the request will be dismissed otherwise.
  • This issue contains only one feature request.
  • I have read and understood the contribution guidelines.
Feature description

Feature description

Fossify Messages already has two useful features related to long messages: a character/segment counter and a "Send long messages as MMS" option. However, neither of these prevents a user from accidentally sending a message that gets split into a very large number of SMS segments.

Proposed solution

Add a configurable segment limit with two levels of protection:

  1. Warning before sending: When a message exceeds a configurable number of segments (e.g., default 3), show a confirmation dialog: "This message will be sent as 327 SMS segments. Send anyway?" This is the most important addition — it catches accidental sends while still allowing the user to proceed.

  2. Optional hard segment limit: A setting where users can define a maximum number of segments (e.g., 5). Messages exceeding this limit cannot be sent. This is particularly useful for parental control scenarios or users on limited SMS plans.

Both options could be exposed in Settings → Outgoing messages alongside the existing character counter and "Send long messages as MMS" settings.

Why do you want this feature?

In my case, my daughter created a very long message, and hit send. This resulted in 500+ SMS segments being sent — instantly hitting the monthly SMS limit on her prepaid plan, generating extra costs of 31 euro-cent per segment. The character counter was visible, but there was nothing to stop the message from being sent. The "Send long messages as MMS" option does not help in our case because MMS is not included in her plan.

Additional information

Additional context

  • The existing character counter shows the segment count but does not prevent sending. The existing MMS conversion option helps some users but is not a solution when MMS is unavailable or costs extra.
  • Related issue: #222 (long messages triggering Android warnings and error code 5). A confirmation dialog would also reduce the confusion described in that issue.
  • Implementation could hook into the existing SmsManager.divideMessage() call to count segments before sending and conditionally show a dialog.
Dominant language
Kotlin
Stars
1.6k
Forks
187
Avg merge
2d 9h
Merged PRs (30d)
20

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