There were two separate but similar systems being tested nearly simultaneously at the same time.
Both messages were issued by FEMA using the IPAWS (Integrated Public Alert and Warning System).
The test at 1418 was issued as a WEA, Wireless Emergency Alert message intended to be relayed by Cellular systems.
The WEA message is limited to 90 character messages. No audio.
These messages -are not- text messages, they are transmitted in a carrier reserved portion of the cellular system. Presidential level, including the test, message are NOT optional and if you phone can technically receive it... it should receive it.
The second test issued at 1420 was intended for broadcast and cable / satellite systems and are transmitted over the Internet to decoders which, like the WEA system, have Presidential level alerts, EAN (Emergency Action Notification) and NPT (National Periodic Test) messages hard wired into the decoder if it receives the test via the Internet or from a monitored radio or television station, it will run the message with an audio interrupt and (at a minimum) a crawl at the top of the screen.
If you go to the thread that must not be named and the latest post is there, I received exactly what is pictured on my iphone. It was in a little grey window with words in it. I call that a text. If you are telling me it wasn’t truly a text by transmission that is one thing. But if it looks like a duck, reads like a duck ....... it’s a duck!