Messages should be fast: Send the message and the recipient will read it in a few seconds. They’ll send you an answer, you know what happened later. But when your messages are obviously sent and received by the horse, things start to get frustrating. This is what has been bothering some Pixel users lately, as MMS messages with attachments and even group chats take an eternity to get where they need to go.
This problem does not appear to be new. I was first interested in this Reddit thread from Thursday, May 12, but there is also this thread from four months ago, which is just as sad due to the slow connection with Pixel 6 Pro in Canada. Users of both threads expressed frustration with their pixel’s slow messages ranging from 15 minutes to several hours. One user even complained that his Galaxy S21 on T-Mobile suffered from the same problem, so although most cases seem to be related to pixels, the problem could go beyond Google phones.
While it’s never fun to encounter software problems like this, especially if there’s no clear solution from Google, there are a few solutions you can try to speed up attachments and group conversations.
Clear your messaging app’s cache
The first thing you should try to do is clear the message cache. There may be too much message data stored in your phone, which may prevent attachments from being received correctly. To do this, force the messaging application to quit, go to Settings> Apps, select a specific messaging application, and then Storage and cache. First, try clearing the cache by clicking “Clear Cache.” If that doesn’t help, you can try “Clear Storage”. (This option won’t delete your messages, but will reset the app, so you’ll need to sign in if necessary.)
Switch between 5G and LTE to force the messages to move
If clearing your cache and data doesn’t resolve your issue, you can try switching between 5G and 4G to send or receive messages. This trick is effective, but it’s definitely not handy. To switch, go to Settings> Network & Internet> SIM cards> Preferred network type and tap “LTE”. When sending messages, switch back to 5G (of course, until the problem reappears).
Temporarily swap out your Pixel’s default messaging app
If something goes wrong, try changing your default messaging app, even for a short time. Like the last step, it can be annoying, but it can be worth a try. You can change the default messaging application in Settings> Applications> Default application> SMS application. Now select the application you want to transfer.
Reset your Pixel to factory settings
You can try to replace the SIM card, but none of the commentators who have tried this method have reported success, so it is not worth your time and effort. If all else fails, the best solution may be to restore the phone to factory settings. We are talking about why a reset can be good for your technology and can solve any problems that cause message delays.
You can always try a traditional reset from Settings> System> Reset Options> Pass All Data (factory reset). But if you really want to make sure that your Pixel gets a new version of Android to use, you can follow the advice of FRDFRDFRH users and flash the factory image of your Pixel. Going this route is much more technical than a simple factory reset, so if you choose to do so, read Google’s instructions carefully. However, this may be a step that can solve your problem. This was true at least for FRDFRDFRH.