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Simplifying Unicode punctuation for SMS
Jump to the formSMS "text messages" on mobile phones are frequently sent in either GSM 03.38 (a 7-bit ASCII-like code with some currency symbols etc) or Unicode. A single special character, such as a curved quotation mark, could cause otherwise-ASCII English text to be sent as Unicode, multiplying its size. This can be a problem if you want to include some text copied from a website or other source in your SMS. The Javascript-based browser tool below replaces common Unicode punctuation with ASCII, and removes diacritics and some formatting. (If you use a phone's browser, it will also attempt to place the result in the phone's SMS composer.)
| Length limits in some setups: | SMS count | Unicode characters | ASCII letters | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single text (limit of very old phones and of UK landline "spoken text" 2018) | 1 | 70 | 160 | ||
| Lyca/O2 UK limits sending (but not receiving) to (as of 2014) | 2 | 134 | 306 | ||
| Limit of Sony Ericsson T100 (any longer are shown fragmented) | 6 | 402 | 918 | ||
| Google & Samsung apps convert to MMS after (2019, use QKSMS to exceed this on Android 5+) | 10 | 670 | 1530 | ||
| Receiving limit apparently introduced by EE / T-Mobile early 2017 (longer can be falsely reported delivered) | 17 | 1139 | 2601 | ||
| Sony app (v27 on Android 4.4) converts to MMS after | 20 | 1340 | 3060 | ||
| HTC/WM6.1 firmware bug can confuse delivery reports after | 80 | 5360 | 12,240 | ||
| Limit of Samsung Galaxy S2 (Android 4.1) | 120 | 8040 | 18,360 | ||
| Vodafone UK's limit 2013 (longer not sent) | 127 | 8509 | 19,431 | ||
| Theoretical limit | 255 | 17,085 | 39,015 |
| Transfer times: | |
|---|---|
| 2G (GSM) | 5-6 seconds per fragment |
| 2G + GPRS | 2 seconds per fragment |
| 3G | ~2 seconds setup + ~0.05 seconds per fragment |
| 4G | <0.05 seconds per fragment |
All material © Silas S. Brown unless otherwise stated.
Android is a trademark of Google LLC.
Ericsson is a trademark or registered trademark of Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson.
Google is a trademark of Google LLC.
HTC and Touch are trademarks of HTC Corporation.
Javascript is a trademark of Oracle Corporation in the US.
Samsung is a registered trademark of Samsung.
Sony Ericsson is probably a trademark of Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB.
Unicode is a registered trademark of Unicode, Inc. in the United States and other countries.
Vodafone is a trademark of Vodafone Group Plc.
Any other trademarks I mentioned without realising are trademarks of their respective holders.