Shouldn't have separate threads for the same number :lady_beetle: [BUG]

[xxxxme]

Describe the bug Messages with the same number sometimes show up in separate threads. When this happens, the number I send to has different formatting than the number I receive from (ex: +1-808-555-1234 (contact/to) vs +18085551234 (received from).)

Expected behavior Quik should ignore formatting when creating a new thread.

Smartphone (please complete the following information):

• Device: Google Pixel 5a
• OS: LineageOS 20 official (A13) + microG
• App Version: 4.0.7

[MoralCode]

I've seen this too

[octoshrimpy]

definitely agree. looking into it.

[4jNsY6fCVqZv]

I observe that a separate conversation is created even with the identical number formatting. I send out a message - the first conversation is created. The contact replies and a second conversation is created that only contains the contact's reply. It looks as if I can write in both conversations and my messages are also transmitted correctly (delivery confirmations). However, replies from the contact only ever appear in the second conversation, never in the first. Different colours are assigned to the two conversations.

I use QUIK 4.0.7 from F-Droid.

[4jNsY6fCVqZv]

And an additional observation related to this issue. Today I sent an SMS to a new phone number and used the country code with +. The reply came again in a new conversation, but unlike the other conversations, this time the reply had a number formatting without the country code. So it seems that there are different ways QUIK handles this.

[hayvan96]

Quik is no longer useable on my wife's phone.

For one contact(as a matter of fact, mine!), the number in QUIK looks like 336182XXX, instead of +33. In contacts, it appears correctly as +33. If she sends a sms to the 06182XXX, it works. If she sends to that contact via Lineageos default sms app, it works. But for some reason, in quik, as soon as the contact is recognised, it's identified as 33... instead of +33, and sms fails to be sent.

I guess thre's a mix of +33XX and 33XX in the sms database, and QUIK assumes 33X should be used. If QUIK regroups similar phone numbers, the international -and correctly formated- number should be the standard, not a incorrect format like 33XXXX

[Inhishonor]

I was not able to reproduce this on my emulator using any of the situations you guys shared so I have no idea if the fix in #490 works. If you guys could install the debug build and let me know if that solves the problem that would be fantastic.

You may need to enable restricted settings as described here: https://github.com/octoshrimpy/quik/wiki/Installation-from-Github.

[MoralCode]

Is your emulator able to actually send and receive SMS messages?

[Inhishonor]

Is your emulator able to actually send and receive SMS messages?

Yeah, you have to be able to connect to it with adb and then you can run adb send sms emu <number> "message" . I think you can also simulate phone calls with that same command.

I built a lineageOS image and I'm using that as an emulator.

[hayvan96]

I was not able to reproduce this on my emulator using any of the situations you guys shared so I have no idea if the fix in #490 works. If you guys could install the debug build and let me know if that solves the problem that would be fantastic.

You may need to enable restricted settings as described here: https://github.com/octoshrimpy/quik/wiki/Installation-from-Github.

Hi, I've just tested the debug build on my wife's phone. No change. The issue is in the database I guess :

• the conversation thread associated to my number is registered as 336XXXX instead of +336XXXX
• if I enter +33 formatted number in the "to:" field, it will revert back to "my" conversation thread, hence 336XXX
• and as a matter of fact, impossible to send.

The only SMS app working is the default lineageos one, for some reason.

[DJCrashdummy]

@hayvan96 i'm not sure, but your issue might be a slightly different one, as this issue is about exact the same numbers - always in international valid notation - but with different formatting (nothing, spaces or hyphens between numbers).

as you mentioned "336XXXX" is not a valid international number... hence i'm somewhat baffled that QUIK merges its messages resp. contact with the ones from "+336XXXX", because something like "336XXXX" might be a completely different local number! 😱

[DJCrashdummy]

back to your particular issue @hayvan96: from my observations (regarding the issue with valid international numbers) it seems that QUIK simply takes the fist occurred formatting per "assumed identical" number as "default". so if the first SMS is an incoming one, there is usually no issue, no matter how it looks in your contacts. if you sent the first SMS and your formatting was "quite off", issues like a separate thread may occur as soon as the person answers resp. sends a SMS.

what i can picture that might help to work around your special issue is the following:

1. make sure your android SMS database is up to date
2. uninstall QUIK
3. change the number(s) in your phone book to the international valid notation (-> always save numbers, contact information etc. in international valid notations... this spares a lot of time and headache in the long-run.)
4. use a generic SMS backup app like SMS Import / Export to directly backup the android SMS database
5. clear the complete SMS database
6. import the backup of the SMS database again
7. install QUIK and sync the database

thereby including 4.-6. is the advanced version and i'm not sure if it does anything at all... i just try to "recreate" the procedure of migrating to a new device, as i also got reports that the issue with 2 threads disappeared after migrating to a new device. 🤷 ...also rebooting between the single steps does not hurt either.

but the easier solution which is IMHO more likely to guarantee success:

1. delete the complete thread(s) concerning this issue
2. change the number(s) in your phone book to the international valid notation
3. to be on the safe side, make sure to receive the first new SMS from the contact(s) in question.

as you can see, the only issue is, that the history of the contact(s) in question is gone... if this is not acceptable, you are also free to play around and try to combine both procedures. -> just make sure to have a complete backup off site and that no important SMS which must be in the history/backup are incoming while you are experimenting. 😉

[Inhishonor]

@DJCrashdummy I agree this is probably a seperate problem.

Before you delete the messages, could you try one thing @hayvan96? Can you try sending a message to 336XXXX? I think I was able to reproduce it, but the only problem I could find, was that the contact was wrong, the message still sent (note this is on the emulator so maybe not completely accurate).

Video of me reproducing this

Is this what happens when using the debug build?

[frederiiiic]

Hi there,

Edit (Sorry for that) : Curently using Quik SMS v4.1.0, LineageOS 22.2 Android 15.

I've just take a new look at this bug and observe something : I've take a look at a doubled conversation that i got, one is french 06XXXXXXXX format, the other is french international +336XXXXXXXX format. But when i clic on tree points on the upper right of the conversation, this open a new tab with contact name and number up on the page. I clic this and Quik told me "contact doesn't exist" (in french) in both conversations!

But if i tried to open a new conversation with this contact, this open the conversation of 06XXXXXXXX number, but i recieved messages in the +336XXXXXXXXX conversation.

Hope this help.

[DJCrashdummy]

@frederiiiic it hardly helps when you don't mention the version of QUIK you are using. because e.g. the F-Droid builds are one release behind (which doesn't contains a fix for this issue). ...and while you are at it, perhaps it makes a difference if you started new with this version, or if updated from previous. (because i couldn't even reproduce this issue when starting fresh with one of the latest F-Doid releases although i had it - and could reproduce it - beforehand).

[frederiiiic]

Do you think there is a way to merge now theses conversations to solve this issue?

[DJCrashdummy]

@frederiiiic there are a few things to differentiate:

• the latest release (at the time of writing 4.1.1) may already contain a fix - at least for the root cause! ...no idea if it also merges 2 wrongfully existing conversations.
• it might be still necessary to reset/reinstall the app to get 2 already existing conversations merged.

...on the other hand when starting from scratch, even with version 4.1.0 i couldn't reproduce the 2 conversations for one number although i could reproduce it reliable with much older versions. 🤷

---

anyway, i would strongly recommend to backup your SMS database with something like SMS Import / Export before you start doing anything. ...and not with QUIK itself, as it may contain some error which might recreate the 2 wrongfully conversations opposed to SMS Import / Export which reads/writes the database directly.

long story, short... if you just want it to be fixed without loosing any SMS (and don't mind some fiddling around), your safest bet is:

1. backup your SMS database (with something independent) from your SMS app
2. uninstall QUIK
3. install the latest version of QUIK (be aware, that if you install the github version you won't be able to update via F-Droid and vice-versa.)
4. check if the 2 wrongfully existing conversations still exist resp. get created again.
5. report back what did (not) work and which version & procedure you used.