What is an MMS? Simply explained

If you automatically think of SMS when you think of MMS, you’re not far wrong. The MMS is a further development

What an MMS is – what you should know

The fact that the abbreviations “MMS” and “SMS” sound so similar is no coincidence. MMS is based on SMS.

• The three distinctive letters MMS stand for Multimedia Messaging Service. This is a further development of the familiar SMS. While SMS can only be used to send text messages, MMS gives you significantly more options. You can use it to send pictures as well as videos and documents.

• MMS messages are not sent via the mobile network like SMS, but via the mobile data network. This results in higher costs of around 10 to 20 cents. MMS can also be seen as the little daughter of e-mail

• If you write a normal SMS and add a video or picture, the SMS automatically becomes an MMS. You may need to enter the correct data in the settings of your cell phone beforehand. In many cases, however, these are already configured via the SIM card.

MMS – that’s why the service is hardly worthwhile

The digital clock is ticking very fast: a few years ago, MMS was a minor sensation on smartphones, but today it is almost passé. In short: the age of MMS is long gone. Services such as WhatsApp and iMessage have overtaken it. Sending pictures and videos has not only become much faster, but above all much cheaper.

• Theoretically, very large files can also be sent via MMS, but in Germany the size of an MMS is uniformly limited by the network operators.

• This means that an MMS can have a maximum size of 300 kByte, around 0.3 MByte. However, if you take a photo with your smartphone, it will be around 1 to 3 MByte in size. You can still send it via MMS.

• When a message is sent, it ends up in the MMSC, the Multimedia Messaging Center. Here the message is adapted by the mobile phone provider for the recipient and forwarded. However, the image at the recipient’s end is only around 300 kByte in size and therefore quite blurred.

• Services such as WhatsApp and iMessage also send images and videos, as well as other content. In the best case scenario, however, you are in a WLAN network so that sending is free of charge for you. Nowadays, MMS is only worthwhile on classic cell phones.