How to block text on verizon message plus

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I use a Verizon phone for texts and calls, and I used the regular messaging app that came preinstalled on my phone for messages.

That was when I heard about Verizon’s Message+ service, which offered a text messaging service allowing you to send media that wouldn’t be possible through regular MMS or texts.

I had to find out what it was because I could never send any media that had a larger file size and had to resort to mailing my recipients.

To get to know more about Message+ and the other things that it could do, I visited Verizon’s Message+ page and asked around a few user forums to get an opinion from people who had used the service.

This guide has managed to compile all of the information that I had found so that you can understand what the differences between regular Messaging and Message+ are and make an informed decision on which service to use.

The difference between Message and Message+ is that Message+ uses Wi-Fi and can sync across devices, whereas Message uses your cellular connection and is a lot easier to set up.

Read on to know how both compare and what we think is the best overall. After reading this article, you should be more informed to decide to keep using Messages or move to Message+.

Regular Messaging App

The regular messaging app that comes preinstalled with your phone sends messages as SMS and requires you to be registered on a phone network.

They also need you to have a SIM card in your phone to know you are registered on the network.

You’ll also need to have a good plan that hasn’t crossed the limit of the number of SMSes that you can send.

Most providers also have a set file size limit on MMSes of about 1-2 megabytes, and you should adhere to this limit for the message you send to get delivered.

Regular SMSes are either paid or toll-free, with toll-free messages having a size limit of 525 kilobytes, which is quite a smaller limit than messages that cost money.

The Message+ app is a messaging app from Verizon that uses both your SMS service and internet data service.

With the app, you can make and receive calls on devices that don’t have or can’t use a SIM card, like a tablet.

You can also customize your chats, just like any modern messaging app, changing colors, bubble styles, and fonts, among others.

Sending eGift cards is also made a whole lot easier with the app.

Additional features like Glympse and Yelp notifications are just some of the features added to their app that makes it pretty useful.

Regular Messages vs Message+

Comparing both services is pretty easy since all of their features are pretty well laid out.

After seeing how each app compares, you can make a more informed decision on whether to move to Verizon Message+ or stick with your regular Messaging app.

Pros and Cons of Regular Messages

First, we’ll see what your regular messaging app can do and where its limitations lie.

The pros for regular messaging are:

• Pretty easy to use: The regular messaging app doesn’t require you to go through any setup. Just insert your SIM card in your phone, and you’re good to go.
• Does not need internet access: To send messages over regular SMS, you don’t need a good internet connection. You’ll only need to be connected to your provider’s network to start sending messages.

The cons, on the other hand, are:

• Cannot message internationally: Operators don’t usually allow you to send SMSes overseas unless you pay more per message.
• Unsolicited marketing: SMS is the hub for marketing that you never asked for, and if you give out your number for any kind of service, be it for a store loyalty card, or a promotion on the internet, marketing messages will keep pestering you.
• Cannot access on multiple devices: You cannot use the same number on multiple devices and have all messages sync across all devices unless you remove the SIM from one device and insert it into another. That won’t sync messages, and devices without a SIM slot can’t do this either.

Pros and Cons of Message+

Verizon Message+ was designed to be more than a regular messaging app, so to see if it truly can be what it claims to be, let’s take a look at its pros:

• Uses Wi-Fi for calls and texts: Message+ works with user accounts, so it won’t need a SIM to work once you set up an account with Message+. You can do everything with either a Wi-Fi or a data connection.
• Syncs across devices: You can log in to Message+ on up to 5 devices that you own with your Verizon account to get your messages and conversations on those devices. You get to continue conversations with people even if you lose access to the device you started the conversation on.
• Larger file size limit: Since Message+ uses Wi-Fi to send messages, it has a higher limit on the file sizes that you can send. If the file being sent is under the SMS limit, your SMS limit will be used. Otherwise, it will count towards your data cap. No longer would you have to face the “Message Size Limit Reached” error.
• Additional features: Features like Glympse, driving mode, and Yelp adds value to the app, letting you share your location when chatting with someone, plan a meetup, and keep you safe while driving, all without needing to switch apps.

Now let’s look at what Message+ is not so great at:

• Video call quality is average: Compared to standalone video calling apps like Google Duo or FaceTime, Message+ suffers from a very aggressive form of video compression. This can result in random quality drops in both audio and video. As a result, I’d recommend using a dedicated video calling app rather than Message+ for video calls.

Verdict

Overall, looking at the pros and cons of each service, it has become evident that Message+ is the better option.

If you are willing to forego a dip in video call performance, go ahead and sign up for the service, even if you are not a Verizon customer.

You can disable the Verizon temporary background processing notification, if you find that it slows down your Verizon Message+ App

Choosing The Right One

Even though our comparison yielded a clear winner, it does not mean that the regular Messages app is useless.

If you are looking for a no-frills messaging app that’s easy to use, and the only thing you use it for is to send text messages, then the regular Messages app on your phone is more than enough.

Today’s phones have a pretty feature-rich messaging app included with features like Archived conversations and RCS messaging that lets you send emojis, so it’s a good choice to make.

If you want a pretty well fleshed out messaging app with the ability to send videos, photos and GIFs without needing to bother about file sizes, then the Message+ app is for you.

The additional features like the driving mode and Glympse add more to your messaging experience as well.

Alternatives To Message+

Message+ is a great app, but you have to be tied to a Verizon account to use the service.

If you already have social media accounts set up, adding the Verizon Message+ app to that list would just add to the number of accounts you have to remember.

There are a few alternative services that you can use that need accounts from services that you might already have, like Facebook or Google.

Hangouts

Hangouts is Google’s internet messaging service that supports all features that Message+ does, like RCS and large media file sizes.

It only requires a Google account, and can replace your default messaging app to receive messages coming to your phone number as well.

The app has integrations with Duo, so the transition between texting and video calling is almost seamless.

Voice calls are also supported once you have the Google Voice app installed, where you can use multiple phone numbers.

Facebook Messenger

Messenger from Facebook is more oriented towards Facebook users, but you don’t need to be friends with them on the service to send messages to anyone.

The more popular features that messaging apps have today, like disappearing messages, and group video chat are all here on Messenger.

The feature that I liked was the Bubbles message overlay that persists on your screen even when you haven’t launched the app.

This saves you from switching apps everytime you want to respond to a message.

Signal

Signal is a fairly new entrant in the messaging app space, but it had made a huge impact in popular culture when it came out.

It promised real end-to-end encryption, and true privacy, and everyone gobbled this up, getting Signal to the top of the app charts when it came out.

It is still going strong, with frequent updates and their promise of privacy being upheld every step of the way.

Final Thoughts

You can also use Message+ on your PC and read your Verizon messages online.

You only need to log in to your Verizon account and go to the Text Online option that you can see on your account page.

Another neat feature that Message+ has is the ability to backup messages in case they get deleted.

You would need a Verizon Cloud account for Android or iCloud for iOS to set up an online backup, and you only need an SD card for a local backup.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Does Message+ cost money?

Message+ is free to use for anyone regardless of whether they are a customer of Verizon or not.

SMSes are charged according to your plan, and messages with sizes greater than 5 megabytes are counted towards your data limit.

Is Message+ only for Verizon?

Message+ is freely available for anyone regardless of whether they are a customer of Verizon or not.

You need to have an Android phone that’s version 4.2 or newer, an iPhone with iOS 7 or newer.

Can I see someone else’s texts on Verizon?

Verizon does not allow you to read through others’ messages from any other medium other than their phone because it is a privacy violation.

What is the difference between texting and messaging?

The difference between texting and messaging lies in what network they use to transmit their messages.

Texting uses your cellular network while messaging uses your Wi-Fi or mobile data connection.

How do you block text messages on Verizon message Plus?

How do I block a number from texting me message plus?

Does Verizon have a spam blocker for text messages?

How do I view blocked text messages Verizon?