Why the Videos Sent Over Text Are so Bad: The Problems with MMS

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Image Source: FreeImages

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In today’s digital world, the quickest way to share something is over text. Why send photos, videos or even voice messages via social media or email when you can simply send them over text and be done with it? It’s quick, easy and almost universally accessible. But why does that final point not apply to these kinds of texts? Because let’s face it: MMS sucks. It’s a horribly antiquated standard that is terrible for any kind of visual content. Texting has been around since the early 2000s and yet we are still stuck with this primitive, bandwidth-hogging standard for sending images, video and even audio files. The problems with MMS do not stop there. Even if you have friends who can receive MMS on their phone, they might not be able to see your message in their inbox. Here are some issues with sending photos, video and audio files as MMS – and why you should avoid doing so at all costs!

MMS is Incredibly Bad at Handling Images

The first issue with MMS is that it is incredibly bad at handling images. If you send an image that is more than 500KB through MMS, most carriers will compress it. While this may initially sound like a good thing, it actually reduces the visual quality of the image to the point where it is no longer readable. This happens because when images are sent through MMS, they are stored in a very small format called H.263. While this is perfect for storing a low-quality image in a small area, it does not work that well for high-quality images. This is especially bad if the image you are trying to send is a GIF. Most GIFs that you may use for a reaction are on the larger side – and will therefore be incredibly compressed when sent over MMS.

MMS Sizes are Based on a Decade-Old Standard

Another issue with MMS is that its original sizes are based on a decade-old standard. Back when MMS was first introduced, the standard for a “high-quality” picture was around 350 pixels by 700 pixels. This meant that a picture in the highest quality at the time was around 2.2 megabytes. That was okay back then – after all, nobody had high-speed internet and there were not many devices capable of handling this kind of file size. But now, we have devices with a plethora of cameras and numerous data-intensive apps. MMS, being tied to a decade-old standard, is not equipped to handle this.

MMS is Bad for Battery Life and Storage

MMS is bad for two things: your battery life and your storage. Let’s tackle the first one: your battery life. If you are on a mobile network, you are using your data rather than your minutes to send or receive files. This means that you could be incurring massive charges if you are not careful. Most users may not notice this – but if you send out a bunch of files and you are on a limited data plan, you could be in trouble. And then there is the storage issue. What if you are running out of storage? What if you are trying to send something large via MMS and you have nowhere to put the file? Well, you could try and delete other files to make room – or you could try and send it over MMS again.

MMS Can Lead to Data Loss

This is a bit of a stretch, but it is worth mentioning – especially when you look at the other issues surrounding MMS. If you are on a phone that saves receipts, you may have received emails with your receipts attached. If you have an email client (such as Gmail) that supports automatic MMS spam filtering, your images might be taken out of context and not sent over. This is not necessarily a bad thing. And it can actually lead to data loss: if you are using a software like Zapier to send data from one application to another, and that data is being stripped from the original message, you could be losing important data. This is something to be aware of if you are using MMS to send data.

MMS is Inherently Unsecure

And lastly, MMS is inherently insecure. If you are sending a friend something, it is highly unlikely that they will be able to access it – because they may not have visual voicemail. If you are sending something to your significant other, they might be able to access it – but they may not be able to do anything with it. They might not have the app installed on their phone and be unable to view the images or videos. If you are sending something to an employee or someone else in your organization, they might not have the app installed on their phone and therefore wouldn’t be able to take advantage of the file you sent. And if you are sending something to a client, they might not have a way of accessing the file if they don’t have the app installed.

Why socket.io should replace MMS

All of these issues make it clear: MMS is bad for sending visual content. With all of these issues, it is clear that MMS is not equipped for use anymore. And with the advent of technologies like WebRTC and socket.io, we can do things that were never before possible. And these are not futuristic technologies that will only be available once a sci-fi movie is released. They are available now – and you can use them to send files to friends, family and clients without needing to deal with these issues.

Wrapping Up

Sending visual content over MMS is a bad idea. It is slow, inefficient, and can cause more problems than it solves. If you need to send a photo, GIF, or video to someone, send it over socket.io. This new technology is not only better than MMS in every way, it is also ubiquitous across different devices. You do not need to deal with the issues that come with MMS. Avoid sending photos, GIFs, and videos over MMS at all costs and use socket.io instead.

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