I've got a Samsung J7 2018, ATT.

When I get a text that contains a 30 second video (not a link to the
video), does that video take as much storage as if I'd saved the video?

Boris <nospam@invalid.com> wrote:

> I've got a Samsung J7 2018, ATT.
>
> When I get a text that contains a 30 second video (not a link to the
> video), does that video take as much storage as if I'd saved the video?

Well, just where is the video going to get saved on your phone that
won't occupy space for the video? Also, that video is going to eat away
at your text quota if it is not unlimited. "When you get" means "when
your phone auto-retrieved". As I recall, video media content is
restricted to 40 seconds, but no idea if the video is degraded to some
minimum resolution.

With a video attached, you didn't get an SMS text. You got an MMS text.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multimedia_Messaging_Service

You configure your phone to NOT retrieve MMS texts unless you okay it,
or you could delete the MMS portion if you decide you don't want the
content. If you don't disable auto MMS retrieve, any spam text sent to
you could include media, and eat more of your text quota, and consume
storage space on your phone.

https://www.wikihow.com/Block-Multimedia-Messages-(MMS)-on-Android

I don't text (well, rarely do so). My friends and family only send me
SMS (short) texts, but not very often. More like a buddy coming to pick
me up for a get-together at a restaurant might text me that he is close
by although that requires more distracting interaction with the phone
than him using the linkage of phone to car to make a call saying he is
near by. I don't use my phone in my car when it's moving whether for
calls or texts. The only time I've gotten MMS texts is for online
grocery ordering and delivery. The personal shopper might take a pic of
a substitute product when the one that I ordered is out of stock. I
have auto-retrieve of MMS disabled in my phone, so I have to elect to
retrieve the MMS text.

That's a setting on your phone. The only phone number I publish is my
Google Voice number. GV is configured to send a copy of texts to my
e-mail address, so my local e-mail client gets those. In that case, I
do get MMS text without me having to okay the retrieve (i.e., auto-
retrieve is enabled at GV for MMS texts). The MMS texts do occupy space
at my GV account (until I delete them with other texts). I don't care
that a copy of the MMS text is sent to me via e-mail. The result of
getting texts sent to me via e-mail is that I can manage the texts on my
desktop PC using my e-mail client, and media content in an MMS text,
even if for spam, is no big deal via e-mail. GV is intended to act as a
PBX, so it must accept MMS texts to then send onward. It's at my phone
that I decide whether or not to auto-retrieve MMS texts.

On 2023-04-04, VanguardLH <V@nguard.LH> wrote:
> You configure your phone to NOT retrieve MMS texts unless you okay it,
> or you could delete the MMS portion if you decide you don't want the
> content.

Most text messengers automatically shrink media (mine does anyway).
The shrinking happens on the senders' phone.

Most text messengers autosave media to their folder (mind does anyway).
That autosave is a selection which disassociates the text from the media.

I suspect it's saved twice in the situation of an autosave.
But I never looked before.

On 2023-04-03 23:18, Boris wrote:
> I've got a Samsung J7 2018, ATT.
>
> When I get a text that contains a 30 second video (not a link to the
> video), does that video take as much storage as if I'd saved the video?

If the video is "on your phone" to be played, then one should assume so.

Unless I missed something, once MMS sends the vid to your phone, it's
not kept on server elsewhere.

On iPhone this might be trickier to answer when it's an Apple Message
containing the video. It might be stored locally (on phone) ephemerally
and eventually dropped - while still available from your Message store
in iCloud - whence it would be on the phone again ... ephemerally.