How Many Types of Messaging Are There?
by Eli Merrell | Last Updated: Mar 17, 2023
- Text Messages: Arrives in the form of an SMS (Short Message Service) message or MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) message. Depending on the sender’s and recipient’s devices, text messages can be received as an iMessage or RCS (Rich Communication Services).
- Push Notifications: Messages that appear on a device lock screen from a mobile app or digital experience installed on the device. The mobile app or digital experience does not need to be open for messages to be received.
- In-app Messages: Messages that users can only read when they are actively using a mobile app or digital experience.
How Many Types of Messages Are There?
There are three distinct types of messages, all with different benefits and limitations. On a connected device users can receive text messages, in-app messages, and push notifications.- Text messages are sent and received depending on the sender’s connection, the types of devices the sender and recipient are using, and the type of content being shared.
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- SMS restricts senders to 160 characters per message. Messages that exceed this are separated into segments of 160 characters each. SMS messages can only contain alphanumeric characters, including links.
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- MMS messaging is used to send multimedia files, such as photos, voice memos, videos, and gifs.
- Device-Specific Text Messaging
- RCS is an update to the SMS standard. It is supported on Android devices and is what powers functionality such as typing indicators, read receipts, and high res image support. Android has been pushing Apple to adopt the RCS standard.
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- iMessage is exclusive to Apple device users, providing a secure messaging experience between Apple devices. On an iPhone text messages are color coded. iMessages appear blue when you send a message to another Apple device user, and your friend’s reply will appear gray.
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- In-app messaging, or in-app notifications, appear for active users of a mobile app or digital experience. These messages can appear as badges or pop-up alerts when users open a mobile app.
- Push notifications appear on a device’s lock screen and link the user to an installed mobile app or digital experience.
What Are the Different Types of Text Messages?
When the average user thinks of a text message, they generally think of one-to-one texts in their native messaging app. The little blue or green text bubbles on Apple devices that help us communicate. In reality, there are many different types of text messages. The different types of text messages include SMS, MMS, RCS, push notifications, and in-app messages. Each of these are different, some only include text while others can include images. Push notifications are messages that are received outside of your inbox. Users are notified of them on their home screen or lock screen. Businesses can send push notifications if users have opted in to them. Push notifications are a great way to grab users’ attention when they are not already engaged with your brand. Push notifications pop up on the home screen directing your users’ attention to your brand and away from whatever they were previously doing. In-app messages are received inside a specific app. These might be popups or yes/no prompts. These might be confused with push notifications but they typically only received when the user is in the specific app sending the information. This could be a survey asking users how they are enjoying the app experience. Because this survey only lives within the app and not in the users’ inbox or on their home screen it is an in-app message.What Is SMS vs MMS Messages?
As we already covered, SMS messages are text based messages sent between two electronic devices. It doesn’t support advanced features such as group chat, read receipts, and live typing indicators. While limited in its functionality, SMS is widely used because it is universally accessible. People can use SMS messaging to communicate with people in any part of the world, irrespective of whether they have a smartphone or an internet connection. MMS messaging is used to send multimedia files. A user’s device must be MMS-enabled to receive multimedia messages. With MMS messages users can:- Deliver a video up to 40 seconds in length.
- Deliver messages longer than 160 characters.
- Deliver a single image or a slideshow of images.
- Deliver an audio file, such as a voice memo.