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Messaging should have been a standout feature on the Cricket MSGM8 II, but instead it's stripped down and lacking some essentials. Text messaging is about the most basic messaging app you could have on a phone today. Messages come through individually, not in a threaded, conversational format. Messages come through with extraneous information attached, like the blank CB# field that I couldn't figure out how to take advantage of. You can attach pictures and sounds for MMS messages, and this worked just fine. But this is a bare bones operation for text messaging.

You can also download Cricket's email app, which had preset support for Hotmail, AOL and Gmail, or it can download your settings using your email address and password. The email app was fine for reading email in a pinch, but I wouldn't rely on it. I never got notifications for new messages, and the app was very slow to load. It was slow to startup, then slow to download messages over the 1x network connection.

That's all for messaging on this phone. There are some Web link shortcuts to the WAP mobile versions of Facebook and MySpace, but nothing unique to this device. There are no other messaging or social apps on board, except for a widget to access the mobile social network MocoSpace. There's no instant messaging app, and none available for download from Cricket's online shop.

Even text entry doesn't work well. There are no spelling helpers or auto correct features. There are no features to add periods or apostrophes, or any other modern niceties. It can auto capitalize the first letter of a sentence, but I found this inexplicably didn't work every time.

I understand dumping most high end features to keep this phone cheap and simple, but I can't forgive a lousy suite of messaging options. If only this phone had a great text messaging app, with a threaded messaging view, a homescreen widget to read messages quickly, and live contact search from the recipient field, this would be a much more compelling phone without changing the hardware or the rest of the interface.

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