Difference between MMS and SMS
Main difference
MMS stands for Multimedia Messaging Service while SMS stands for Short Messaging Service. Multimedia messages contain multimedia files in the messages and can be sent from the source to the destination. A person can attach images, music files, audio files and even videos with a multimedia message and they can be sent through the mobile data connection. On the other hand, SMS is the most famous and revolutionary type of text messaging service that allows the user to send and receive text messages all over the world using a mobile data network connection. Only text and written symbols or emoji can be sent as SMS. MMS is also more commonly known as a picture message.
Comparison chart
| MMS | SMS | |
| abbreviated as | Multimedia Message Service. | Short messaging service. |
| specificity | MMS is used to send multimedia files attached to a message, such as images, music, audio, and video. | SMS is used to send text messages that include symbols and emoji. |
| Transmission | First of all, the sender sends an attached message to the means that the messages are received in the message center, message center that through the Internet forward those messages to the destination. | In SMS transmission, message centers are fully responsible for receiving and transmitting text-based SMS. |
| size limit | No limit as such. | 160 character limit on a particular message, may differ by network and geographic area. |
| Congestion | MMS has congestion, but it is considerably less congested compared to SMS as it is transmitted over a data network. | SMS can often suffer from a severe connection as they are transmitted via GSM cellular network technology. |
| challenges | Low-end mobile devices and phones, content adaptation, spam, etc. | Spamming and spoofing, bad weather conditions, poor connection established, etc. |
| Use | MMS is used by more than €1.3 billion active users according to 2010 statistics. | SMS is used by more than 4.3 billion dollars of active users worldwide, according to similar statistics from 2010. |
| modern form | Whatsapp, Facebook, Instagram, SnapChat and many other applications. | Instant messages, chat rooms, chat applications, chat services, etc. |
What is MMS?
MMS stands for Multimedia Messaging Service. It is a messaging service based on a mobile data network that was initially introduced in 1984 and was based on the concept of SMS. It was not successful in its introduction due to the lack of speed and technology of the Internet and high-end cell phones and smartphones. Later, as technology advanced, MMS became widely used to send multimedia files along with text over a mobile data network. Users can attach pictures, music files, audio files and even videos with the MMS and can send it to any destination that is capable of receiving the MMS.
What are SMS?
SMS stands for Short Messaging service. SMS is the revolutionary text messaging service that was introduced in the 1980s. It is a GSM based service. SMS is the simplest way to transmit text messages over the cellular network connection without having any link to the Internet. Users can only send text, symbols and some emoji as SMS. Today, almost one out of every two people in this world, if considered according to statistics, owns a cell phone. Of all of them, according to the 2010 survey, 80% of them surely use the short messaging service to communicate. In 2010 there were more than 4.2 billion dollars of active users who send and communicate via SMS. Mobile phone companies generated record revenues of more than $81 billion in 2010. In 2014, a new type of marketing trend was introduced and gained high recognition and wide acceptance around the world. It was named mobile marketing, in which the cellular text messaging service was used to send messages to customers and clients in bulk. By the end of 2014, this global marketing business had grown gargantuan and was valued at more than €100 billion. The marketing service shared the overall revenue generated by the SMS service and 50% of the total revenue was due to mobile marketing. The transmission of SMS depends on the strong network connection of cellular networks that work and communicate around the world. A simple process transmits text messages using the short message service. The typed text message containing text and symbols is sent by the sender and received first by the message center. the message center that assigns the destination address to text messages and then forwards them to the destination where the recipient receives it. It is a quick process and may cause lag or lag effect due to any message center issue or network distortion. The SMS may fail in the message centers and cannot be sent, they are automatically forwarded by the message center or they may show a notification to the user that the message was not sent, please send it again. Currently, instant messaging services like Whatsapp and several others have quite surpassed the general role of SMS and are taking its place for sure. It is a quick process and may cause lag or lag effect due to any message center issue or network distortion. The SMS may fail in the message centers and cannot be sent, they are automatically forwarded by the message center or they may show a notification to the user that the message was not sent, please send it again. Currently, instant messaging services like Whatsapp and several others have quite surpassed the general role of SMS and are taking its place for sure. It is a quick process and may cause lag or lag effect due to any message center issue or network distortion. SMS may fail in message centers and cannot be sent, are automatically forwarded by the message center or may display a notification to the user that the message was not sent, please send again. Currently, instant messaging services like Whatsapp and several others have quite surpassed the general role of SMS and are taking its place for sure.
MMS vs. SMS
- MMS stands for multimedia messaging
- SMS stands for Short Messaging
- SMS is used to send text messages only.
- MMS is used to send multimedia files based on images, audio and video.