Simplify group messages creation

[maverick74]

Because group messages keep having problems, I would like to suggest a simple implementation:

I understand you want to keep it simple and, when we press + we quickly enter a new sms!

But there is no simple way to create a group-sms!!!

Currently you have to:

1. go to +,
2. select a contact (this sends you to that contact's chat)
3. select you would like to add others to the conversation (creating a group!)
4. select the desired contacts
5. accept/finish the selection ( presently, this results in a crash of the app - #643)

I would like to suggest the elimination of points 1, 2 and 3! ... and jump right into 4.

To do this all a user has to do is: LONG-PRESS +

and this would lead you right into the multiple-contact selection window (4.)!

Simple and intuitive!

(an extra good addition would be if we could - on the multiple-contact selection window (4.) - have access to the entire contact list and just check-box the desired contacts as we find them on the list)

[maverick74]

@tibbi independently if you accept this or not, and just out of curiosity, how hard would you rate the work to do this?

Would it be simple to implement?

[tibbi]

well, depending on how we want to solve it as it apparently needs a UI change too. Do you have any good example from an other app or similar behaviour?

[maverick74]

Well i was not thinking about any UI change. As it would be just kind of a shortcut to an already existing "window".

Except if you are talking about "access to the entire contact list and just check-box the desired contacts as we find them on the list".

If that's the case, i can share the default Xiaomi SMS app that has a great UX in this case (i keep coming back to it everytime i need to send multiple sms's):

[tibbi]

that would create 1 extra step as a confirmation for like 99.9% of users, who just want to pick 1 person. So the best way would be leaving short clicks as is, then allowing multiselection by long pressing someone, then clicking on additional ones, then confirming at the top. Wont be the simplest to implement but shouldnt be anything too drastic.

[maverick74]

that would create 1 extra step as a confirmation for like 99.9% of users, who just want to pick 1 person. So the best way would be leaving short clicks as is, then allowing multiselection by long pressing someone, then clicking on additional ones, then confirming at the top. Wont be the simplest to implement but shouldnt be anything too drastic.

Yeah i think that would work pretty well!

And in that case, we wouldn't be needing the "LONG-PRESS +" i mentioned above!

This is one of those long fights i have with SMS apps! Xiaomi's work well, but they miss a few useful details (and i don't trust much in closed source apps). I've been using QKSMS a few years now (but it a few of problems with group sms as well) and i now have SimpleSMS, but this is also one feature lacking for my complete change.

Group sending is something i use rarely (tbh) but when i do it's very frustrating to have to go back to the old app!

I think the solution you propose is elegant and intuitive and would solve the problem (don't know if it will fix #643 however)