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Phantom SMS Messages

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RNHurt

2020 MY, White, Black
Jul 29, 2020
252
233
Louisville, KY
I was reading about this over in the Model 3 forum but I have a Model Y and thought this problem might be more widespread.

I've had my MY for almost a year and in the beginning the SMS / Text messaging feature worked wonderfully. I would get a message from someone and the car would read it to me. However, in the last 6 months or so I've started to get "phantom" or replayed messages. These are real messages that have been sent by real people but we're sent long ago; so long ago that they are no longer in my SMS history. They usually show up either before or after a real message arrives.

I've rebooted my car several times and un-linked/re-linked my phone (Google Pixel 3XL) but nothing seems to work.

Does this happen to you? Any suggestions on making it stop? Is it an Android only problem or does it happen to iPhone users as well?
 
Not happening for me. I also use an Android phone (Pixel 5) and have received sms messages recently that have worked fine. I have not been replayed old messages. Check the bluetooth settings on your phone (text messages option) and the car's bluetooth connection settings to your phone... in case there's a mismatch. That's all I can think of.
 
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It's a known thing and I believe it's mostly Android users (iPhone FTW!). No known fix for it either. It's made for some interesting conversations as you'll see in the comments of the threads about it. Usually it's showing names that haven't been "heard from" in a long time but the actual text is from someone recent.



 
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Yea, I figured it was happening to others, I just couldn't find the right search terms I guess. :confused:

Anyway, I removed my phone and reset the Bluetooth connection to my car. 3 minutes later I received a phantom message from my daughter. :mad:
 
I believe it has to do with Google Chat. They're merging Online Messages and SMS, and restoring messages from within 1y, working on older messages later. So it's likely that stuff is being pushed to your phone, which is recognized as "new" and displayed by Tesla.
My wife uses Textra on her S10. I thought maybe when she got a text from an uncle who she HATES it would've been enough to switch to iPhone like the rest her family & same as my family but nope. Still getting notifications from creepy uncle...
 
I suffer from it, and other than horrible quality glass, this bug is my biggest complaint with my model 3, which I've owned for 8 months now. It is stunning that Tesla can't get it fixed, although I'm sure it's more "won't" than "can't." They may blame Google, but if every other car on the market can retrieve SMS messages correctly from Android phones, the fault is clearly with Tesla. Pretty embarrassing.

I've tried several 3rd party SMS apps (currently use Textra), but the problem never goes away - unless switching to Signal, which prevents the car from reading any messages at all.
 
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It's not just a Tesla thing either, it has happened in my other car, definitely an Android Messages bug.

I'm not sure it's an Android Messages bug. I'm using Pulse SMS (which I really like) and not use Messages at all and it still happens. Either way, I wish Tesla would fix this. When I first got my MY it only happened very, very rarely. Now it happens almost every time a new message thread starts up. :(
 
I just upgraded to 2021.12.25.6 and there were lots of good SMS changes (bigger, bolder text, etc.) However, the problem of phantom messages is still ongoing. In fact, it may be worse than before.

I've done everything I can think of. Car reboot. Delete phone from car. Delete car from phone. Nothing works. :eek:
 
This is occurring for me as well. What i would love to see, is at least a Tesla service bulleting that addresses this so we know they are working on it. Having my invoice simply state it will be fixed in a future software update doesn't give me any comfort.
 
disagree. I paid a lot for my Tesla, I'm barking up the exact right tree, and I would know (see my profile pic).

SMS standard hasn't changed in years. The issue occurs for me in both my S and my wife's Y and i am NOT using the new RCS chat system, just regular old SMS. Tesla needs to get this fixed, how they do so (whether that involves google or not) is irrelevant to the end user.
 
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disagree. I paid a lot for my Tesla, I'm barking up the exact right tree, and I would know (see my profile pic).

SMS standard hasn't changed in years. The issue occurs for me in both my S and my wife's Y and i am NOT using the new RCS chat system, just regular old SMS. Tesla needs to get this fixed, how they do so (whether that involves google or not) is irrelevant to the end user.
Ok, and what is your phone model? I would bet it's a newer android such as the newest Samsungs or Pixels. I've said it before and I'm saying it again. This started when google started migrating SMSs to the Google Chat platform. If you have your phone backed up by Google, that will happen.
 
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