How to turn on a character count on your iPhone, so you know how long your SMS messages are

Tracking your character count as you compose a text message might seem useless, considering iMessage lets you send messages upwards of 20,000 characters with no issue.

But if you're going to be texting someone with an Android phone, you should know how long your messages are. SMS messages (which Android phones use) have a short character limit — 160 characters. 

This means that if you send a long message to an Android phone, it'll be split up into multiple texts, which may arrive out of order.

Through your iPhone's settings, you can easily start keeping count of your characters, and track how long your SMS texts are.

Here's how.

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iPhone 11 (From $699.99 at Best Buy)

How to turn on character count on your iPhone

1. Open your iPhone's Settings app.

2. Scroll and select the "Messages" tab. You can also use the search bar at the top of Settings, rather than having to scroll and hunt for the Messages tab.

3. Under the category "SMS/MMS" are several options, including "Character Count." Toggle this setting on by tapping it. The setting should now appear green.

4. Exit Settings and open a new text message conversation with someone who has an Android (or other non-Apple) device.

5. As you begin entering text, you initially won't see a character count. But don't sweat it — your character count will appear in small, grey text above the send arrow after typing around 30 characters.

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