How to fix Galaxy S8 texting issues: S8 can't send group message to iPhones

Texting issues are some of the most common problems of smartphone users. Today’s troubleshooting article will answer some of these issues found on the #GalaxyS8. If you have an S8 with SMS or texting problems, this post may help you.

Problem #1: iPhones not receiving group messages from Galaxy S8 Plus

I have a S8 Plus and in the last few days (after the most recent update), if I send out or respond in a group text with other phone users besides android, they do not receive them. It seems that others with an android can see and receive my text in the group but iPhone users can not. However, if I send them texts individually they can receive the messages, just not within the group. My husband who has an android, is now having the same issues. Is there anything I can do to change this? Thank you.

Solution: iPhones are usually set to use Apple’s own iMessage service, which also is responsible for other messaging functions including group messaging. Non-iOS devices can only send regular SMS to iPhones so if you have contacts that use iPhones in your group, they will only receive individual text messages from you. They won’t be able to join the your group at all because their messaging service is not compatible with what Android devices are using. This is not a bug but a technological limitation so there’s nothing much that you can do about it.

As a workaround, you can try asking your group to switch to messaging apps that work on all platforms. For example, all group members can use Facebook Messenger app to send and receive messages. Facebook Messenger works on both Android and iOS devices. As long as everyone has internet connection, messaging within members should work. There are other similar apps in the Play Store. All you have to do is decide which one to use.

Problem #2: Galaxy S8 Google Chrome not working, emails won’t load, cant use gps and navigation

Google chrome is not working. It may have crashed, not sure. Unable to use google voice, emails stopped loading, cant use gps and navigation. Also, phone runs very hot sometimes, and I am not sure what is going on there. When you touch google icon from app screen, error message is your file was not found. It may have been moved or deleted. Also, I am not sure which Android version I have.

Solution: There may be a general software error causing all these glitches you mention. If you still can, make sure to back your files up to avoid losing data. If that’s not doable either, then you can just skip it and proceed to factory reset.

To factory reset your S8:

Back up data on the internal memory. If you have signed into a Google account on the device, you have activated Anti-theft and will need your Google credentials to finish the Master reset.
Turn off the device.
Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Bixby key, then press and hold the Power key.
When the Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
Press the Volume down key several times to highlight “wipe data / factory reset.
Press Power button to select.
Press the Volume down key until ‘Yes — delete all user data’ is highlighted.
Press Power button to select and start the master reset.
When the master reset is complete, “Reboot system now” is highlighted.
Press the Power key to restart the device.

Problem #3: Galaxy S8 showing “Message not sent. Retry” error when texting or sending email

In both my e-mail & text messages, I get a message saying “message not sent. Retry” Yet, the parties in which I have sent them tell me they have received what was sent. I have restarted my phone, removed..waited, uninstalled and reinstalled the e-mail app, & even cleaned the cache in each of the apps individually using the settings portion. Nothing helps. Please advise.

Solution: There’s a number of possible reasons for your problem. Below are the troubleshooting steps that you can try to fix it.

Delete app data

We don’t know for sure if you’ve deleted the data of each apps having the issue (email and text messaging apps) so we’ll emphasize that this should be the first thing that you needs to do. If you did delete the data of email and text messaging apps already, then simply ignore this suggestion and proceed to the next troubleshooting step.

To delete an app data:

Open Settings app.
Tap Apps.
Tap on More settings at the upper right (three-dot icon).
Select Show system apps.
Find and tap your app.
Tap Storage.
Tap Clear Data button.
Restart your S8 and check for the problem.

Make sure to clear the data of both email and text messaging apps.

Wiping the data of your text messaging app will erase your texts. Make sure to back them up first if you wish to keep them. Try using Samsung Smart Switch for this task.

Reset app preferences

Apps don’t work in isolation. Most of them depend on other apps in order to function properly. Sometimes, necessary defaults apps may be disabled by other apps or by users themselves. To ensure that your S8’s default apps are enabled, follow these steps:

Open Settings app.
Tap Apps.
Tap More settings (three-dot) icon at the upper right.
Tap Reset app preferences.

Reset network settings

This procedure is separate from the previous one as it covers all settings of your Android device and not just the apps. Some Android users were able to fix text messaging and mobile data connection issues by simply resetting their device’s network settings. Make sure that you do it.

From the Home screen, swipe up on an empty spot to open the Apps tray.
Tap General Management > Reset settings.
Tap Reset Network Settings.
If you have set up a PIN, enter it.
Tap Reset settings. Once complete a confirmation window will appear.

Factory reset

You’ll ultimately need to factory reset your phone should nothing works. Refer to the steps above on how to factory reset your S8.

Problem #4: Galaxy S8 Plus keeps showing No Service and won’t turn on

I have a samsung galaxy s8 plus which I bought from Saudi Arabia (I reside in India).Initially the phone was working perfectly fine while recently there was this problem of the phone not showing Phone signal (Shows as no service). If you try to turn on the internet at this point (which I was suspecting was a glitch) would say no sim card inserted. This went on for a long time as the phone continuously started doing the same.With this I also noticed the phone running in a boot loop(restarting by itself). It will turn back on whenever it feels like, till then it keeps restarting.What I did next was I checked online and suspected any app to case this. I factory reset the phone. Once the phone was factory reset. I loaded up all the apps again. The issue seemed to have fixed by itself for which I was happy.Again after a week or two.The phone started restarting by itself again.

I also noticed whenever it does this there is a static single line on the screen after which the phone becomes non responsive and reboots.So this went on for two days, I was prepared to send it back to Saudi Arabia as when I called the samsung care they simply denied saying that “there is no warranty for you in India.”

Today, the phone did the same and now it doesnt turn back on. Not responsive to charging, does not even respond to pressing and holding the power key or the power and volume rocker key. Tried removing the sim card, connected to laptop, it isnt getting detected.I would appreciate if someone can help me or suggest me something as it is a pain sending it to Saudi Arabia for fix.

Solution: There’s a number of possible reasons why your phone may no longer turning back on. Some of the most common reasons include the following:

bad charging cable or adapter (hence you are unable to charge the battery, hence a “dead” phone)
broken charging port (hence you are unable to charge the battery, hence a “dead” phone)
battery has stopped working (or receiving charge)
Power Management Integrated Circuit (PMIC) is broken or malfunctioning
there’s an unknown motherboard issue that affected critical components (probably related to the reason why the screen was cracked?)
software glitch

Honestly, there’s only so much that you can do in this case. If the reason for the problem is due to one of the first five reasons in the list above, you really need to let Samsung fix the device for you.

In case the problem is software in nature (app or operating system related), below are the things that you can try.

Use another charging accessories

The charging cable or adapter may be damaged so the first troubleshooting step that you want to do is to charge your phone using another set. If you can’t borrow another official S8 charger and adapter, go to your local Samsung shop and use their charger and/or cable. Then, charge your phone for at least 30 minutes before turning it back on.

Boot to safe mode

Safe mode blocks third party apps making it a good tool to determine if one of your downloaded apps is causing your phone to not boot up. So, if your phone turns back on to safe mode but not on normal mode, you know one of the apps is to blame.

To boot your S8 to safe mode:

Turn off the device. This is important. If you can’t turn it off, you’ll never be able to boot to Safe Mode. If you are not able to shut the device off regularly via the Power button, wait until the phone’s battery is drained. Then, charge the phone for 30 minutes before booting to Safe Mode.
Press and hold the Power key past the model name screen.
When “SAMSUNG” appears on the screen, release the Power key.
Immediately after releasing the Power key, press and hold the Volume down key.
Continue to hold the Volume down key until the device finishes restarting.
Safe mode will display in the bottom left corner of the screen.
Release the Volume down key when you see Safe Mode.

If nothing works or if your phone won’t boot to safe mode at all, it’s probably dead. Try booting it to Recovery Mode and see what happens.

Boot to Recovery Mode

To boot your S8 Recovery Mode:

Charge your S8 for at least 30 seconds. Do this even if you’re not getting the LED charging indicator. Also, if possible, try using another known working charging cable and adapter.
Turn off the device, if it’s not yet.
Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Bixby key, then press and hold the Power key.
When the Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
In Recovery Mode, there are two things that you can do — clear the cache partition and master/factory reset. If your S8 boots to Recovery, make sure to do either or both of these options to fix it.

Get professional help

If your S8 won’t turn back on at all, contact Samsung so you can set up a repair.

How to fix Galaxy S8 texting issues: S8 can’t send group message to iPhones