Message+ Save Corrupts Content
zorvek
Enthusiast - Level 3

When saving messages in Message+, the UTF-8 encoding function makes two passes over the text. It should only make one pass. Please fix the UTF-8 encoding function.

Details

Take this text for example:

    "I'm going to the store."

The correct UTF-8 encoded string is:

    "I'm going to the store."

Message+ makes one pass which generates the correct string, but then makes a second pass which encodes the ampersand and results in this:

    "I'm going to the store."

When Message+ restores the messages with these erroneous encodings, the result is:

   "I'm going to the store."

  This can be corrected manually by editing the .vzm text file and replacing all "&" with "&". These files are stored in the VZMessages folder.

Content modified as required by Verizon Wireless Terms of Service

Labels (1)
13 Replies
Seething-Sage
Enthusiast - Level 2

Yes, I'm also having this issue. I manage a business account, and I just replaced the owner's phone, and Samsung Smart Switch garbled up many of the MMS messages when I used it to transfer the SMS/MMS messages. So I tried the manual method next provided by the Messages app. But on the new phone all of the apostrophes were messed up, which was not acceptable to the owner (or to me). So I used the Notepad++ text editor to edit the .vzm file exported by the app, to remove all 1822 instances of the extra "&" tag as suggested above. Then I deleted all of the messages and re-imported them, and the apostrophes were fine this time. -- This is not the first time I've seen this error in Messages either. I recall looking at ways to directly edit existing messages a year or two ago because this same thing happened then. But the user in that case didn't care about their apostrophes being messed up. But the owner cared, and so will I when I move all of my messages to a new device soon. (The 90 day cloud restore is totally insufficient for our needs - we keep way more messages than that for valid business reasons.)

Ann154
Community Leader
Community Leader

There are a number of other sms backup applications in the Play Store that should do a better job of backing up the text messages and restoring them to the new phone.

I'm most definitely NOT a VZW employee. If a post answered your question, please mark it as the answer.

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Seething-Sage
Enthusiast - Level 2

You would think so. Ann154, if you have a specific app from the Playstore to recommend, then please do so. But I've tried several of them, including "SMS Backup & Restore."  None of them work any better than Message+, even considering the work-around you have to go through to not end up with garbled apostrophes.

Some of the apps will specifically only backup and restore SMS messages, so you lose all of your MMS/group messages. Some seem to hit some internal limitation and they crash a couple of hundred messages in. "SMS Backup & Restore" handles both SMS and MMS. However, it can't handle advanced/enhanced messages, which I think equates to the enhanced chat features used in person to person messages which are enabled, by default, with the "Enable chat" option in the Application settings section inside of Message+. When I tried to get the owner's messages with SMS Backup & Restore, it only backed up about 3500 of the 4500 total messages that were there. Losing 1000 messages was not an option.

So I'd really like the bug in this application to be fixed, which is what this thread is ultimately about – not alternatives to this app which may or may not work.

jaesea
Enthusiast - Level 1

Yes!  Please correct this bug, Verizon!

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jaesea
Enthusiast - Level 1

Hire this guy!  He seems to know more about your software than you do, Verizon!!!

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Seething-Sage
Enthusiast - Level 2

So, I just replaced my Galaxy S8 with a Galaxy S10, and this problem has not been fixed. If you care at all about your punctuation not being messed up when you do an import, then you still have to manually edit your exported .vzm files to find and replace the messed up string as described above.

Furthermore, if you have a lot of text messages (like I do, partly for business reasons), then it's hit or miss whether Message+ will even do the import - at least on my new S10. In prior versions of the app, it would hang up when exporting many messages, but you could get around this by selecting and exporting a few conversations at a time and then separately restoring each exported file.  Now exports seem to work well, and fast. But the import process is flaky.  Sometimes when you select the conversation to import "from SD card "(which really looks at the internal storage NOT at an external SD card), often nothing will happen and you'll see a notification on the phone that says "Restore Canceled" even though you didn't cancel it.  If you long-press on the conversation you want to restore though, and press the restore option, it'll usually start. But then the progress notification you get on the phone will completely hang up partway through the restore, and you have no way of knowing when or if the process actually completes.  Of course, even if it does complete, you'll end up with garbled apostrophes if you didn't manually edit your .vzm file(s) before restoring from them

vzw_customer_support
Customer Service Rep

Zorvek, I'm truly sorry to see that you've been having issues with the text you're trying to save showing up incorrectly while using the Messages plus application. We want to make sure this gets resolved for you and Seething-Sage. Outside of the troubleshooting you've done, have you tried to uninstall the application and reinstall the application? Do you know if the application requires and update? Which device are you using and have you checked to see if there is a new software update available?   ChetonJ_VZW

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pobutre
Newbie

So, this JUST started to happen to me out of the blue....not a new phone (currently samsung note 9), app is up to date and I've made no changes to the phone or the app and since yesterday every text I receive that contains an apostrophe contains this "apos" error and then I receive a second text message that is corrected.  I actually WORK for verizon and I'm embarrassed when these things happen.  Please get this fixed.

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vzw_customer_support
Customer Service Rep

pobutre, I rely on text heavily, so I know how important it is for the app to work properly. Please use the steps on the following web page https://www.verizonwireless.com/support/knowledge-base-218977/ to clear the data for the app. Is the software for the phone up to date? 

DavidC_VZW

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jgwinner
Enthusiast - Level 2

Support that says basically "Did you restart" and "did you update" is like a state trooper at the scene of a fatal automobile crash asking "Did you try going home and driving the same route again?"

or "your oil light is on - did you try returning the car to the dealership and getting a new car?"

It might even work, but it's not a solution. The OP identified the correct solution - FIX THE EXPORTER and he even indicated how. If the workflow in Verizon isn't such that tech support people employed by Verizon can't somehow evaluate an issue, and elevate it internally to a "we need to fix this bug" the best we have here is an attempt to placate the masses through obfustication.

 

 

KH-OrnEsh
Moderator Emeritus

Due to the age of this thread, it will be locked in order to keep discussions current. If you have the same or a similar question/issue we invite you to start a new thread on the topic.
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Ciera11
Newbie

I just upgraded to the Galaxy 20+, and it is showing some incoming texts with the error apostrophe and then sending a duplicate text with it correct. It does not do this everyone. It does this in both message applications, regular message and message+. Is there a fix yet? 

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vzw_customer_support
Customer Service Rep

Congrats on your new device, Ciera11! Texting is the way most of us communicate today, and I want to help ensure your texting issues are resolved. I understand the problem does not persist with every contact. I will need to gather some additional information. Is your Samsung Galaxy 20+ showing the latest software? Does the problem persist with a specific user, or more than one? Does this happen with picture messages, as well as text messages?

 

ChakiaH_VZW

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