Smartwatch issue with new Message+

The 6.4.x build of Message+ wants me to setup the app for calling from my watch. I've asked support but they had no answers. This shows up constantly:

Followed by:

And yet no amount of clicking on the Open Calling Setup does anything either on my Moto365 Gen 2 or my LG V20. There's no speaker on my Moto360 so setting up calling from my watch is illogical. I just say OK Google call such-and-such and that's all I want to do. Can someone at Verizon please give me the ability to dismiss and disable this constant setup message that doesn't do anything for me?

Accepted answers

TubaOrNotTuba

Hey everyone I have a solution! I know it's a bit of a pain, but it's not too bad, if you'll factory reset your smartwatch and let Verizon Messages install itself on the newly reset watch message notifications are INSTANT!

Man, I'm so excited. Messages is such a terrific app with its ability to use the web to send/receive messages or the desktop app, to have this as the limiting factor was really troublesome. I'm so happy I found a solution. Hopefully that works for everyone else here and that helps Verizon's programmers figure out what was wrong and work to a solution so people don't have to reset their smartwatches in the future.

All comments

TubaOrNotTuba

Ironically, this says "compatible smartwatches" and yet given the Moto360 does NOT have a speaker, it's flat out stupid that it harasses me to setup calling on my watch. Yet another bug or design flaw, among the plethora of them, that Verizon has yet to address (or even comment on).

Calling on Verizon Messages FAQs | Verizon Wireless

Verizon_Support

It's important to get this working the way you'd like it to work, TubaOrNOtTuba. Let's roll up our sleeves to find a solution. I see that the developers recently push a 2nd app update for Verizon Messages on February 4th ( https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.verizon.messaging.vzmsgs&hl=en ) . Has this latest been installed?

If so try resetting the app like this: https://www.verizonwireless.com/support/knowledge-base-203565/
Note: These are the steps for a Samsung Galaxy. If these steps do not work for you, then let us know the make and model of your device.

DavidH_VZW
Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport
If my response answered your question please click the �Correct Answer� button under my response. This ensures others can benefit from our conversation. Thanks in advance for your help with this!!

TubaOrNotTuba

I'm so tired of Verizon reps being condescending. First, let's correct your error. Verizon has actually pushed THREE updates to the app since last Wednesday, the latest being 6.4.4.

Next, I have reset the app. The FACT is this app is trying to setup calling on smartwatches. If you'd bothered to test it you'd have seen it yourself, instead you reply with condescending and inaccurate information and then tell me to do something that you know good and well isn't going to fix anything.

Furthermore, I should have the RIGHT to decide if I wanted to make calls from my watch or not and yet you guys think it is your right to tell me what to do with my watch. Had you asked, "Would you like to setup your watch to make calls" and let me choose NO and have it go away that'd be fine, but as it stands now you just harass me about this. That's unacceptable.

Anyway, when you've actually tested this on a smartwatch and found a way to stop it from trying to use a watch to make calls that has NO speaker let me know, until then, please don't waste my time.

muvotx

I am having the same problem.

Verizon... the moto 360 does not have a speaker, its incapable of placing a call.

You need to fix this asap by letting us chose NOT to allow calling from the watch.

bsteffen88

The only thing I've found to do is destroy the app.

Block it on the 360.

Disable it in Android.

Install a different SMS app.

TubaOrNotTuba

Which is TOTALLY unacceptable. Notice how NO Verizon employees have chimed in after their ridiculous and clearly UNTESTED response FOUR days ago? Clearly they have no clue what's going on and I have to seriously wonder if they have any intention of helping.

bsteffen88

I have tried this.

On the watch, go to apps, click message+

the app will open and ask to be granted a couple of sets of permissions. This has worked so far.

TubaOrNotTuba

Nope. I've told it "Deny and don't ask again" and yet every time the app opens I get this:

There's no way to dismiss it. I've uninstalled back to the factory version (again, you cannot remove Message+ from a Verizon Android (non-Pixel) phone) which removes the new version from the watch and yet the second the new version, 6.4.4, is reinstalled this comes back. I reset it to "Deny and don't ask again" and this screen still comes up. Sure looks like Verizon is ignoring permissions anyway. Maybe the app should be reported to Google. Any app that attempts to circumvent Android permissions will be removed from the Play Store. That'd stop the shenanigans with 6.4.x quickly wouldn't it?!

muvotx

That doesnt work for me either.

The only thing I have found that works is to deactivate Message+, and turn off all functionality of it. But then I am left without any way to text message, which is ridiculous.

This doesn't surprise me... with Verizon coming out with their own smartwatch in the near future, they are going to prioritize that and phase out anything that is "old".

TubaOrNotTuba

That's not entirely true. You can use any SMS app you want, including the manufacturer's app. Whispersystem's Signal is great. Hangouts, Facebook Messenger, and a plethora of other SMS/MMS apps exist. That said, you shouldn't have to do that, Verizon needs to step up and fix their junk rather than continue to push broken, poorly designed, and with a MAJOR privacy vulnerability on customers.

cursix

I'm having this issue on my huawei watch as well.

Verizon_Support

Getting rid of unwanted prompts from your smart watch is a must TubaOrNotTuba. I appreciate all the details and screen shots you have provided in this thread and I have passed this feedback up to our application developers to review. I apologize for any inconvenience this has caused.

JosephE_VZW
Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport
If my response answered your question please click the 'Correct Answer' button under my response. This ensures others can benefit from our conversation. Thanks in advance for your help with this!

muvotx

I don't know What you guys did on the latest Verizon message+, but it is COMPLETELY broken as per the comments in this thread. But mine has gotten much WORSE....

About 2 days ago it completely dis-connected itself from my moto 360 Gen-2 (46mm). By that I mean completely terminated message+ notifications. I tried everything to get it to recognize the watch and could not get it to sync-up.

I cleared all cache, all data, turned off and then on ALL notifications, disabled and re-enabled message+... Still no incoming text notifications at all.

I cleared all cache from Android Wear, turned off and then on ALL Android Wear notifications, and once again repeated all the above steps with message+.... still no incoming text notifications at all were getting to my watch.

THERE IS A SOLUTION....

Deactivate and terminate everything having to do with message+ (clear cache, clear data, restrict background data, terminate all permissions, force stop and disable). Its carrier bloatware so unfortunately it can not be completely un-installed without rooting.

Download and install Google messenger. This is the OEM text app that comes with the Google branded phones. So far, going on 1 week its been awesome. Very streamlined, compact, and efficient. PERFECT sync-ing with my moto 360 gen2. Best of all the voice recognized texting function works MUCH better, faster and more accurate than message+.

TubaOrNotTuba

I had the same problem too. The only solution I found was to check the "Enable Popup" option. While I was excited to see the Heads up Notification option, if you enable that you get no notices on your smartwatch. This is just yet another example of clueless programmers at Verizon's 3rd party contractor (Verizon doesn't actually write this software so they really have no control over it) not having the equipment or wherewithal to actually test what they write.

BTW, be careful using the four letter "R" word here. Despite the bloatware that exactly zero Verizon customers want, the "R" word is definitely a four letter word here. If Verizon doesn't like it perhaps they should fill OUR phones that we PAY FULL PRICE for with their unwanted bloatware. If they actually believed we wanted their junk, like VZNavigator (who's dumb enough to pay for navigation in the day of Google Maps and Waze????), they'd let us uninstall it and those who wanted it would keep it. Eventually, the Samsung's, LG's, HTC's, etc... of the world will stand up to Verizon (and the other carriers) and tell them "We're not installing any more junk on our phones. Take them our way or see if you can make it selling only iPhones." Verizon and the others would back down so fast it'd make everyone's heads spin!

cursix

I fortunately have a Google Nexus 6 and therefor have the option to uninstall Message+ which I have done due to the nagging Calling Setup and lack of working notifications. In fact, that should say something; I actually had installed and used message+ for 2 years on a device where I did NOT have to because I liked some of the features it provided and it did not cause any issues running. But now I simply can't use it on my phone with my watch attached. I can still use it on my tablet and PC though my phone does not get a copy of the 'sent' messages because of that.

TubaOrNotTuba

LG V20

Moto360 Gen 2

Well I spoke too soon. By 6.4.5 and now with 6.4.6 smartphone connectivity is BROKEN beyond usability. Messages from EVERY OTHER app - native e-mail, Outlook, Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Snapchat, Hangouts, Calendar, calls, alarms, Google Voice, Twitter, pretty much EVERY other app I get notifications on my watch from work perfectly, ALL BUT Message+.

Come on Verizon, is no testing actually done before you release a version? Please keep in mind those of us with smartwatches tend to be the more technically savvy users and we're not going to tolerate mediocre code without a backlash.

muvotx

Im going on a little over a week now with Google messenger (their OEM app). Performance has been spot on. Perfect sync with my moto 360.

For whatever reason, its voice recognition for text messaging is MUCH faster and more accurate too, at least than Verizon message+.

TubaOrNotTuba

Has anyone noticed that Verizon Customer Support chimed in 15 days ago and NOTHING since? Maybe we need to violate their ToS so they actually get a look at the thread again. That seems to be the only way to get their attention.

MYTH

I too was having the issue with being unable to dismiss, complete, or abort the setup dialog. Eventually, that went away.

Now there is a different interesting problem. When I receive a text message, the notification on my Pixel comes up right away, but the notification on my Moto 360 is delayed. It will randomly appear 2 or 3 hours later. Notifications from other apps come up immediately, as they should. Only Verizon Messages is affected by this delay, and only on the smartwatch, not the Android phone.

frog0568

I am having the same problem with my Asus watch. Text messages are showing up about a half hour later then on my phone. Also only an issue with the message app, all other apps I get notifications right away.

muvotx

I didn't mention it above, but I too had instances where I would receive V-Message+ text notifications 2-3 hours after they were sent. But that only lasted for a brief period, maybe half a morning before I stopped getting text notifications all together.

So far so good with Android messages. I actually like it better than Verizon message+, it just seems more streamlined and the customization settings are more logical and slightly easier for me to set (IMHO).

Looking back at my Android messages transition, one little setback was I couldn't FULLY flush out V-Message+ from my moto 360. By that I mean... the initial notification on my watch screen remained stuck with the red graphic logo V-Message+, and then when I touch or swiped it, it would take me to the Android messages app on the watch. I tried everything to get rid of the V-Message+ looking notification, cleared cache, cleared memory, rebooted watch and phone...etc. But could I could not get rid of it. So there was some remnant process stuck in there... even though everything else about my watch functioned FINE using Android messages... strange.

So mid last week I did a factory reset on the watch, re-sync'ed all apps and its been 100% fine now. There is no aspect of V-Message+ running on either my phone or my watch.

MYTH

The reason to use the Verizon Messages app is so that for outbound messages, you can see whether your text was Delivered and Read -- and by whom, if there are multiple recipients. That is a handy feature. Unfortunately, the Verizon app seems to be less stable and generally less polished than the standard Android one. It will be nice if Verizon can step up to the plate and fix the bugs. I can live without the polish, in return for knowing whether my messages have been delivered.

TubaOrNotTuba

Well, despite assurances from Verizon Message+ support, I'd quote the e-mail but the censors here would delete my message, we're now up to 4.6.9 and notifications to smartwatches still DO NOT HAPPEN in a timely fashion. They're 30 minutes to two hours late.

Furthermore, we're still FORCED to try to setup calling from smartwatches that DO NOT HAVE a speaker. Come on Verizon, how much longer do we have to put up with your excuses, buggy code, and clearly poorly designed app when it WORKED PERFECTLY until February 1st?????

TubaOrNotTuba

There's another reason to use Verizon Messages. You can send/receive messages on multiple devices, including a computer and those messages sync between devices. It's literally the ONLY reason I tolerate the mess that is 6.4.x. I have actually considering porting my # to Google Voice and getting a new Verizon # to solve this. GV is 1,000x better now than Messages and actually works 100% of the time. I should NOT have to go through the porting/new number hassles to just get this to work.

TubaOrNotTuba

JetRocket

It's April 2019 and this issue still has not been resolved by Verizon even though this problem started in 2018 or maybe even earlier.

Verizon Message+ is garbage if Verizon is not going to properly support it and get it working on Android Wear.