Rant: AT&T , MMS, iPhone & ‘viewmymessage.com’

Dear AT&T/Apple,
For the love of all that's holy - please fix this crappy, amateur hour, seemingly hard to screw-up service!

For those of you not in the know, the iPhone doesn't natively support MMS messages, meaning that if someone sends a photo or sound file to your phone number it doesn't come in like a normal text message or email.


Try MMS Buddy!
icon

Aside from the fact that it's a sorely missed feature that is available on the most poorly constructed and thought out handsets (hey Moto...'sup?), it is made even more insulting by the fact that incoming MMS messages are forwarded to a website that can't be viewed on Mobile Safari and that barely functions on a normal browser (www.viewmymessage.com).

For instance, when someone sends me a picture, I get a message that says something like this (this part comes in as a text message): "I sent you a multimedia message. You can view my message via the internet at viewmymessage.com using Msg ID p0cr9Zpro Password bong6hits"

So now I have to go to a computer, launch the browser and navigate to the site, then enter the obscure Msg ID and password.

3 out of 5 times it gives this error, regardless of the browser, time of day or color of my socks:
Picture 1-2
Click for bigger

After I DO manage to get in (furiously hitting cmd-r), I see a brief flash of light, then this:
Picture 2-2
Click for bigger

Isn't that awesome! It's awesome, trust me. You have no idea how awesome it is, seriously, I love this feature so much I want to hurl my iPhone through the internet and give someone a concussion.

Ok, granted, the missing image doesn't happen every time. Every few messages or so I can actually see the picture sent - and it's displayed in a 1.5" x 1.5" square, suitable for framing on an envelope. High-res, baby.

AT&T and Apple - seriously, get your shit together. This isn't visual voicemail. It is basic MMS - the same kind that has been used forever and a day worldwide and that is perfectly fine on other AT&T handsets.

Either add full MMS functionality to the iphone or create a website that freaking works, ugh.

So endeth this rant.

[edit] -Check out http://babygotmac.com/a/a-nice-workaround-to-the-att-mms-problem/ for a possible workaround.

Post Data

Related Posts

  • -ME
    Yeah it is something, at least you can talk to someone live after the automated prompt service and they're not all rude all the time, unlike alicia keys. ( I'm refering to my wireless provider, not yours... mine.)
  • jj
    nothing is worth this frustration on a busy schedule
  • nickolesanchez
    Can i goin?
  • bobbydegonia
    m/2usingmsgidbo4murfdr
  • Bill
    how do i block this trash as what it is trash. i don't need to get advertisements on my phone, i get it enough on the tv
  • elvioamarilla
    I thing is really frustrate it that we can send pics by mms; even metro pcs does for free, unbelievable!!!
  • Susie
    Exactly! WTF do we gotta do to get a pic like everyone else in the free world? Its craziness and the new iPhone doesnt do this function either people, so dont buy into the commercial!
  • crazyburns
    The iPhone now officially supports MMS, but AT&T doesn't. There is no excuse for this.

    http://crazyburns.wordpress.com/2009/07/28/att/
  • ATTSucks
    This ATT. I have had it with this problem. I switched off of ATT. I was using the Moto Q
  • NEECIE
    SAME PROBLEM ON MY BLACKBERRY CURVE THROUGH ATT - FRICKEN HATE IT!!
  • Sugar
    LOL! Loved the rant. Got the 3gs and now waiting on ATT to clean up their paperwork glitch so I can do what I have been doing for 3 years with my clunker of an old phone. Rant on!!!
  • JH5845
    Spot on! This MMS service is absolute ****! One thing I don't think you mentioned is that ridiculous nature of the codes they give you! I have passwords to top secret servers that are less complicated than the BS that ATT sends.

    GET YOUR **** TOGETHER ATT AND APPLE!!
  • Bill
    This article doesn't touch on a couple of points that make "viewmymessage.com" stupider than it needs to be:

    1) Why not give a damned link that is clickable to go right to the image on the web? Why have people use a non-memorizable photo ID and password?

    2) WHy are the images scaled down so tiny? WHy o option to get the full-sized one?
  • koko
    Hello I just wanted 2 know if u have a cp that dose not have e~mail address's on it { & there r alot of them out there } so how do send a pictures of your Iphone to a cp that dose not get e~mail. Or can this b done....
  • blacKberryUser1lIl0Oo|
    Their server must be a piece of shit PC or something? You have to try about 20 times to get the picture.. .and then - once you finally do - the quality of the photo is... um, crap! What a poorly designed site/system... did anyone actually design it this way - it looks more like an afterthought.

    And - one more comment - the MSG ID's... why so complicated? At least don't use lower-case l's and 1's and 0's, O's and o's in the ID's... its bad enough you make us use this POS web site.
  • justinRoss
    Sorry if this is spam, but it seemed relevant. I'm one of the developers for an app called MMS Buddy. It takes most of the pain out of using ViewMyMessage.com by fetching MMS messages for you.

    If (and when) viewmymessage dies (because viewmymessage sucks), it automatically retries a few times. The next version even has a workaround for those users in areas that AT&T is blocking ViewMyMessage.com via 3g/edge.

    You can check out a demo video on our site: http://phase2games.com/fetch
  • Lali
    I'm tired of all my friends with their $1 phones running around all giddy because they just received a silly joke in the form of multimedia. I want to have fun to. I want to be included in on all the jokes.
  • caryelynn
    I was thinking I was the one to blame. Maybe I'm makeing this more difficult than it is or to lazy to write down the password to use safari to get my pic, but even when I come home and try to get my friggen multimedia message I still don't get it.

    My wonderful I phone has a few things good about it and more things that any other phone does better, texting, and pics for example.

    Now my phone just randomly decides it's tired of being in the application I chose and goes back to the Home. Not really handy and I'm begining to get tired of working around it's quirks

    Anyone remember why I spent so much money on this phone??????
  • fuckinpissd
    is it that hard for a pic to be sent to a phone? my old nokia could except pics just like EVERY OTHER PHONE MADE TODAY! what is wrong apple? the product is sweet except this one little thing that makes me want to thow this piece of shit!
  • dingleberry
    AMEN BROTHER!! PREACH ON!!
  • Archambeau
    Yeah. For the life of me, I can't understand what they were thinking. Every dimestore phone in the universe works better than the otherwise stellar iphone in this regard.
  • Lester
    Do we know if or when, that mms will be fixed or updated the problem. what the F..... I've told people to stop sending pictures.
  • crotty
    Dude, I swear to god, I could not agree more. If I could give you a high five through the internet, I would. They spent millions of dollars developing the best new handheld, and THIS is what they fall short on? It's gotta be some backroom deal s**t with att... i'm switching asap.
  • Quincy
    I am not please with the Iphone because it don't have mms, but i can tell you how to put your own ringtones on your Iphone. I got aroung it and it's simple and it works!!
  • cleo
    i couldn't agree more. i hate that freaking non-feature. i think i am going to go out and by a razor.
  • JP
    There is a replacement for viewmymessage.com!

    http://www.getyourmms.com
  • Donna_n
    n/a
  • theinnerme
    OMG...thank you! So I'm not going crazy after-all. I've had this problem since I've had the phone...and it's really beginning to pist me the fukk off..!
  • jeff
    Everyone needs to bitch about this every day... to Apple, via your AT&T account and putting out youtube videos. This is like going back to AOL 3.0. After about my 15th try, it works.. maybe.
    Apple: http://www.apple.com/feedback/iphone.html
  • anaya
    thankyou
  • msblachberry
    none
  • msblachberry
    none
  • Phil
    Amen brother. I HATE viewmymessage.com as well. It's cell phone 101, give people what they want or they will go elsewhere.
  • freemani
    how is the easiest route to getting my message from my message .com? please help me out thank you katherine
  • pnoeric
    I could not agree more-- this whole thing is a total, absurd, bullshit "feature" that is incredibly unusable. I don't know who's to blame more-- Apple, for not supporting basic MMS messaging (even my old Treo has been doing it for years), or AT&T for the shockingly unusable viewmymessage.com web site.
  • dimaris
    how can i see my mgs in my iphone
  • urbanhiker
    Hey Laura, we're about to release an app that you might like. Drop me a line: bengel at gmail. I'll send you a quick email when we launch.
  • urbanhiker
    Hey Scott, we're building an iPhone app that addresses this very annoying problem. Drop me a line if you want to get a preview copy of it.

    Blake
  • Laura
    Hi, I just got my iPhone and my first MMS, I cannot get the viewmymessage.com to work, I have tried and tried. Is there an iPhone appp yet??
  • DonK
    I love my iphone!
  • Me
    Let them hear how frustrating it is to perform the simple act of viewing a picture. Complain to apple here:
    http://www.apple.com/feedback/iphone.html

    If someone has a link for AT&T feedback, please post that as well. With enough complaints to the two companies, perhaps they will finally do something to improve it.
  • mms blues
    To the people at apple and att Helloooooooo get your heads out of your asses and start doing something about mms capabilities on i phone. it is beyond stupidity that you guys have not yet fixed the problem!!
  • Gabbo
    Oh...uh...what i meant to say is "Imagine my surprise 3 days ago WHEN I BOUGHT MY FIRST IPHONE and found they still hadn't rectified it." ;-) I don't typically rant about products I don't own....
  • Gabbo
    Reaper...please. You've posted nothing but inflammatory comments here. How does that work to reduce the anger content of this board, and how does that increase the intelliegence level? Bring something to the table, or go home.

    For everyone else on this boat, I agree with you. It's annoying as hell. I didn't buy the first gen Iphone, and I remember the complaints about MMS back then, but I figured it was an oversight, and Apple's vaunted customer service would eventually fix the workaround (oh, it IS a workaround, don't let the non-MMS messengers tell you different...e-mail is not nearly as easy). Imagine my surprise when 3 days ago I found that they still hadn't rectified it...and it seems pretty obvious they don't care to.

    I can only recommend one route: complain. Complain, complain, COMPLAIN! But complaining here is not nearly as effective as complaining to Apple to do something about it, and complaining to AT&T to fix that stupid website. I lodged a lengthy complaint with Apple (AT&T is next), and I recommend you all do the same. If Apple's customer service is worth it's salt (I still have a lot of faith in them), then they'll find an answer, because they are very good at making their customers happy. Why do you think the Iphone is so popular in the first place??

    Help me turn the gears. The more people we have, the faster they go....
  • He Who Shall Not Be Named
    The ViewMyMessage mess is ridiculous. I will first share wisdom, then bitching:

    Wisdom:

    ViewMyMessage.com ONLY works when your iPhone is connected to a WiFi connection. 3G or EDGE? No. Ladies and gentlemen you heard right...AT&T released a website that you cannot use on it's own network. Now you know why some people say they can get it to work.

    I have racked up about $90 in credits (an average of $30 each call, once every week or two) by calling and complaining. At first they will be confused...say it's an Apple problem...and transfer you to Apple support. Just ask the AT&T rep to stay on the line. When you reach Apple, explain "I cannot get ViewMyMessage to work on 3G or EDGE. The Apple rep will gladly test their iPhone and confirm this for you. Then the AT&T rep understands the issue.

    If you don't have WiFi...you have two options: you can wait til you reach a WiFi signal so you can see your picture and download it (not waiting, screw that)...

    ...or...

    ...visit ViewMyMessage on a regular computer. Why does this option suck? Well because AT&T in their stupid effing wisdom make the .JPG file that was sent to you a FLASH FILE that you cannot download. It's a joke. The only way to get the JPG on the site is through the iPhone via WiFi.

    Bad side to this: almost everything.
    Good side to this: my bill this month was $18.



    NOW MY BITCHING:

    Steve Jobs. Listen. I am an AVID Windows user. I swore to everyone I would never buy an Apple product but alas...here I am. With your phone. Yeah so it's a little buggy with iPhone 2.0. I'm used to bugs (like I said, Windows user)...so what if I recharge the battery twice a day...

    BRING MMS TO THE DAMN IPHONE BEFORE I DRIVE TO INFINITE LOOP AND GO INSANE. I understand you were TRYING TO WEEN PEOPLE OFF MMS...but it isn't working. Everyone without an iPhone uses it. I will NOT ask everyone to consider me a "special case" and email their photos.

    BRING MMS TO THE IPHONE. DO IT STEVE. DO IT!!!
  • E46driver
    viewmymessage.com seems to be gone. I no longer get the messages when pictures are sent to my iphone (original 8gb with V2.0 software).
    not sure what to make of this but it seems AT&T is only getting worst.
  • Iphone Ticked off
    My kids takes pics so that I can see them when I travel. So FU on the 12 year old girl comment. It is ridiculous that the multimedia megastar iPhone cannot send a text pic!
  • Paul
    Sigh...

    Reaperduce. Allow me to introduce you to a concept sometimes referred to as farcical humour.

    I do understand the sometimes within the written medium, tone and inflection don't always come across. I have discovered that the world has no shortage of inflexible literalists. You're no exception.

    It was not my intention to suggest that AT&T/Apple are "actually" criminally liable for their actions. I was merely using a form of hyperbole to describe the oversight in their omission of picture messaging as a feature.

    Oh, and yes, yes I do understand "negligence." You have two ways to look at this feature omission:

    1: Intentional-- Let the real heat begin, if Apple actually intentionally bypassed this feature.
    2: Oversight-- A.K.A. Negligence.

    I'm assuming #2, because I can't imagine that Apple looked at the wireless market and said "feh, who doesn't have email on their phone?" only to discover that millions of users don't have email/web on their phone.- either by 1: Intent or by 2: Oversight.
  • Reaperducer
    This is bordering on criminal negligence.

    Whether the iPhone needs MMS is still a matter of opinion, however we have learned a couple of facts about "Paul" based on his comment:
    1. He is not a lawyer.
    2. He doesn't understand the definition of "criminal."
    3. He doesn't understand the definition of "negligence."

    This discussion needs more light, and less heat. The majority of the posters need to wipe the foam from their mouthes.
  • Paul
    This is bordering on criminal negligence. This would be like buying the most technologically advanced car yet made, only to be told after you drove it off the lot that there were no power windows or airconditioning.

    Can you use the car without it? Of course you could. But how mind bogglingly stupid would you feel driving your wonder of technology down the road, and hand cranking the window down to say "heeeeeyyyy" to the ladies?
  • KK
    I must admit this is a feature that I miss. Hopefully, Apple with fix this so that we can send and receive photos. It's awfully trivial to have to write down a username and password then go to the computer and try to view it. Seems so "old school"
  • AMEN. I couldn't even get ViewMyMessage on the iPhone for the first day and a half. It blows my mind that I have to TAKE A PEN and write down the codes in order to get a picture message.

    What is easier?

    a) opening a text message, getting a pen, writing down the MSG ID and password, which are about as random as when your fucking CAT steps on the keyboard...

    ...or...

    b) tap the message. picture appears.

    CMON STEVE JOBS. WAKE THE FUCK UP.
  • shu
    i hope apple is working on it. i find it weird how such nice phone doesnt have this feature.
  • Anonymous
    getting same error for viewmymessage.com
  • Mandy
    Also getting the error on May 11
  • Yeah, so.. I tried to "view my message" today, at 8:40 pm CST, and this is what I get....


    Error 500--Internal Server Error
    From RFC 2068 Hypertext Transfer Protocol -- HTTP/1.1:
    10.5.1 500 Internal Server Error

    The server encountered an unexpected condition which prevented it from fulfilling the request.


    Yeah, at least whenever I had a phone with MMS it was reliable. This is f***ing ridiculous.
  • john
    Its rediculous that Apple still hasnt fixed this... Had I known, I would not have gotten an iphone... I need to send pics back and forth for work. If they dont fix this soon, I will have to go back to my last phone and verizon....
  • Aureliano
    this is an iphone! not some random handset. i'm stunned that such a simple feature is not included in such a nice device. i love my iphone, but damn! for all the money i paid and the bullshit i had to go through to activate it, at least have mobile-mobile photo options.
    and f-u to all those who knock the whole "12y/o girl" thing. Not everyone wants to spend the better part of a $1,000.00 on an iphone. you could take a cruise for that much. besides, if everyone did we still don't have that one little simple option. the photos from the iphone are very nice for a phone camera, minus the flash option. i have to take still photos in well lit environments otherwise i get crap. it would be nice to share those nice photos with loved ones and friends. if i'm at a restaurant/pub then i have to rely on a digital camera for night photos. an extra expense, more wires and uploading time. it all adds up.
    I think they know this and they're just being stuck up about their technology. it's that whole, "Hollier than though" thing.
  • For a decent way to approximate mms on an iphone, check out snapmylife.com - you email pics to it, and people within your network on the site can opt in to receive email notifications whenever you submit a pic. For non-iphone friends, they can receive notifications via mms if they want by first emailing a pic to snapmylife so that it can detect their mms email address.
  • unhappy
    It's sad that the i Phone doesn't support mms and I certainly wouldn't have bought the phone had I known this at the time.

    I certainly wouldn't recommend it to anyone at this time. I'm just sitting back waiting impatiently for an update in hopes that it will soon be available. It really is a big disappointment.
  • Mike
    The nurse for my aging Mother sends pictures of Mom from her cell phone to my iPhone. I barely receive these valuable snapshots, I can't save them. I am very disappointed in Apple/ATT in this area. They violates the rules of automation (make things simpler, easier and less error prone) with this approach to MMS delivery.
  • ca1
    This is a major bug. BTW, here are still plenty of people that do not have email on their phones....
  • BradG
    It's mush easier to just send a note/picture straight to someone's phone number rather than their email address. Not everyone has email on their phone, the majority of people don't use their phone for email. This is something that just should have been included. They made it a real pain.

    So how do we push to get this changed!?
  • I have the same issue with my Blackberry Curve 8300. I thought maybe it was my plan but I have unlimited data. What a pain.
  • Reaperducer
    If you're taking pictures with an iPhone and sending them to people, use e-mail not MMS. MMS was never intended for photographs, it was intended for light data, not multi-megapixel images. What phone doesn't have e-mail these days?
  • HerbDawg
    Aint that the truth!!! Lets copy and paste this every damn where and maybe apple/att will do something!

    It is so embarrising to have to tell someone to email me a photo instead..

    APPLE / ATT please do something!!!!
  • Not Me
    Funny, takes me back to the days of other mobile developers not accepting MMS (and giving you a website address, with a stupid random password) for what seemed like an eternity...got fed up and upgraded phone.
  • I have noticed that Apple will bring out a product and miss the simplest things on the first try. Why can a mobile computing platform not handle picture messaging? Come on Apple, We love you, but what is going on?

    Parker - www.MacSoftwareList.com
  • Anonymous, Too!
    Yeah, I gotta say i hate it, too. How could they get so much right and get that wrong? GRRRRRRR.
  • Anonymous
    A very nice and snarky reply. Because obviously only 12 year old girls take pictures of houses or computer parts or coworkers or cars or signs or so on and so on. Sheesh.
  • Reaperducer
    Maybe Apple left MMS out of the iPhone because the target audience isn't 12-year-old girls.
  • very nice replies! and post is nice too! thanks!
    http://www.bestdissertation.com
blog comments powered by Disqus