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Comment by ericbarrett | Hacker News Reader

Delivery confirmation has got to be #1, right? There's no feedback from SMS. Messages get lost or sent multiple times as dups. All without having to install an app or use a Meta or Google property.

Edit: Creepy read receipts can be turned off too (I think they're even disabled by default?) Delivery confirmation is one thing but almost nobody likes forced read receipts—they makes text messaging icky like a phone call, because once you pick up you either respond immediately or the other party knows you "left them on read."

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I assume everyone has read a message if it has been a few hours after it has been sent, or definitely within 24 hours, whether they deny having read it or not. Whether or not it was delivered is the key information.

The percent of people not constantly checking their phone has got to be so vanishingly small.

> The percent of people not constantly checking their phone has got to be so vanishingly small.

Sample size of 1, but the amount of time I go without checking my phone has only grown over time.

Teens may be in class, out somewhere, or (increasingly) have it locked down by parents during certain times. And they may only get short chances to sneak a look. Knowing your message got sent (or didn't) lets you mentally set it aside regardless of the other party's status. And if you do sneak a look it doesn't snitch to the other party, like FB Messenger.

sms has delivery confirmation built-in

on android it's an option in the settings

works on vodafone, EE and three in the UK (not O2)

SMS (the protocol) doesn't have read receipts. Read receipts are a device specific implementation that sends a message back to the number ( and has existed since before smart phones )

That's got to be pretty recent and only in certain markets though. I've yet to see a read receipt from SMS (U.S.).

I remember explicitly disabling acknowledging read reciepts on a sony ericsson in the mid-2000s because a friend of mine had discovered how to ask for them on their similar dumbphone and made dumb assumptions about how long until someone should reply.

No, it existed before the iPhone. It was actually weird to not have it on the iPhone, and I remember they were jailbreak tweaks to bring back the feature on the iPhone 3G.

TIL, guess I never had a phone that supported them. Do you know which platforms did?

the first mobile phone I ever owned (nokia 3310) supported it!

from the manual:

> Delivery reports

> You can request the network to send delivery reports on your text messages (network service).

I don't know exactly, sorry. My Windows Phone had it. BlackBerry also had the feature, but people used BBM at the time anyway.

> That's got to be pretty recent

Yes: only 20 years or so ;-)

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