Hi all - having trouble sending calcs from an android device. They come up as broken links. Actually picked up by @cpq but this is something I have seen for a while. Is there a way to fix this, so I can send people links they can click on that fully populate?
They could adopt a URL shortener.
The amount of variables in the LH calculator on SMS message links causes Android → iMessage to misinterpret* them. Too many and iMessage stops parsing the link after the Reg Fee.
It cuts off the sales tax every time as well as demo mileage, and a few others.
Only thing I can think of is adding a link shortener to the calculator / a button to create a short link to copy quickly (think bit.ly) so you aren’t at the mercy of iMessage parsing.
CONTEXT:
Hope this helps.
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You can copy the message and paste in browser
That’s the issue. Most people click, are happy, then likely will get angry when tax is due.
Bitly is now paid if you want custom shortened links.
I’d just integrate with is.gd: is.gd - Developer Section
Feel free to contact me if any PHP / API help necessary to implement a feature that takes the full Calculator URL and shoots it over to an is.gd/ link
Best,
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Or write our own 
system-design-primer/README.md at master · donnemartin/system-design-primer · GitHub
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Yeah URL shortener services are only free up to a certain limit. With our growing community, the cost might add up quickly.
@jananth1 Indeed, the alternative would be to write our own. 
The interim solution would be to manually shorten the url via bit.ly when needed. I do understand that it would be an inconvenience.
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is.gd api is free with pretty much only a DBAA policy. would work for the meantime and no hackish stuff needed.
is.gd - Usage limits - 200/hr or 4800/day, drop in api and bob’s your uncle without rolling your own and needing an AWS certification
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I actually would be happy to help with a basic in house option if you like 
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Same. Just pop this in somewhere, discourse here is PHP backed I think, this would be a fast drop in: https://is.gd/apiexample.php.txt
can this please be fixed? 80% of the world uses android. just a little annoyed that people are getting broken links when i try to quote them, especially when on the road…
Is this android to android or android to imessage issue?
Send them screenshots
What is the character limit on Andriod? Can you share a screenshot of the broken link?
here is what I’ve observed about the calculator link by generating it in chrome on Android, and then pasting it into SMS and sending it to my google voice.
- since the link doesn’t have https:// in front of it when copied, the google voice doesn’t understand that it’s a link at all. There is a chance that other SMS apps may have this issue.
- all underscores get replaced with spaces, so sales_price becomes sales price, which promptly breaks the link. The underscores are still there in the outgoing message, so this maybe specific to GV implementation.
It also sounds that aronchi sent it a receiver with iMessage. So there is a chance that iMessage didn’t reconstitute 2 SMS messages that make up a link (160 character per SMS if I remember correctly) into a single link, but I can’t be sure as I don’t have an apple device to test it.
The links sent from android to my business PBX worked perfectly fine.
Lastly, I’ve prefixed the link with http:// and replaced all _ with %5f and the google voice started getting messages correctly. Don’t know if this will help with iMessage since as I said don’t have a device to check.
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I keep reading this, but I don’t think anyone in my bubble does.
It’s funny that an iPhone user can copy and paste the link into a browser and it’ll populate and work correctly. However, it won’t work from a click in imessage. I don’t have a device to test it out on, either. Maybe someone can text me at 732-779-2587 and I’ll send a link and then we can screenshot where it breaks?
80% of the WORLD. in US iPhone somehow became a status thing, so having the latest iPhone is important for keeping up with the jonses. There were articles a few years back that kids were getting bullied in school and excluded from group chats because the chat bubble was the wrong color in iMessage due to android vs iPhone.
i get bullied in my dating life for having an android, despite the fact that my phone is, I think, more expensive than the iphone 12 promax lol…
i swear people think you’re poor if you have an android.
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Same. I can only think of 1-2 people I know who uses Andriod.
I added “https://” to the link as @njc suggested. That seems to fix the iMessage issue where the link gets cut off. Not sure if that makes a difference to Android users.
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Confirmed working on iPadOS and latest build of IOS! Thank you violette!
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