Best Text / SMS App for Android?

[alangrift]

invi spammed a bunch of contacts who i infrequently contact - popped up a notification on their phones telling them i'd joined invi. not cool.

Noticed how that was the first post of the account?

 

[ControlD]

I have been using Handcent since switching over to Android and I have no complaints at all with it. It seems to work almost exactly like BiteSMS did on my iPhone. After reading this thread maybe I should try some of the other options out there just to see what I am missing.

 

[vshah]

Noticed how that was the first post of the account?

unfortunately I didn't. :twisted:

 

[alangrift]

unfortunately I didn't. :twisted:

I did, was going to say something but thought that would be offtopic.

 

[DrPizza]

I did, was going to say something but thought that would be offtopic.

Reporting the post would have been just as effective - then it would have been gone.

 

[dougp]

I started using Textra at the suggestion of someone on XDA - pretty decent and unbloated in terms of customization, handles group texting flawlessly.

 

[vshah]

textra seems decent so far! thanks dougp

 

[ControlD]

I tried Textra as well, and it looks promising. The lack of lock screen popups sort of kills it for me right now though.

 

[dougp]

I tried Textra as well, and it looks promising. The lack of lock screen popups sort of kills it for me right now though.

It exists. Go under "Default for Notifications" and under the Style section, you'll see an option for "Wake Up Lock Screen."

 

[ControlD]

It exists. Go under "Default for Notifications" and under the Style section, you'll see an option for "Wake Up Lock Screen."

Ahh, I see now. I had to change that option to "always" to get the screen to wake up. Now if they can get the popup to work on the lock screen all will be good!

 

[sm625]

Why do so many people tolerate paying 10 cents or more per SMS when they cost basically nothing in terms of the actual cost to the carrier?

 

[dougp]

Ahh, I see now. I had to change that option to "always" to get the screen to wake up. Now if they can get the popup to work on the lock screen all will be good!

If you have a "secure" lockscreen, that function is blocked because of Google.

Why do so many people tolerate paying 10 cents or more per SMS when they cost basically nothing in terms of the actual cost to the carrier?

Why do people come into threads and post off topic, as well as concern themselves with what others decide to spend money on?

 

[vshah]

Why do so many people tolerate paying 10 cents or more per SMS when they cost basically nothing in terms of the actual cost to the carrier?

i have unlimited texting on my family plan - it's not an option that can be added or removed. and before you say that this raises the cost of plans - perhaps it does, but t-mobile is still the cheapest postpaid so i'm happy with it.

 

[ControlD]

If you have a "secure" lockscreen, that function is blocked because of Google.

It isn't that (I am not using any secure lock screen features). With Handcent, if I get a text message when the phone is locked, the phone wakes up and the text is displayed in a floating window. I can then respond the the text in that same window without needing to launch a messaging app. With Textra, the phone wakes up but the text message is simply displayed up in the notification bar. To respond, I need to launch Textra (or tap the notification possibly) and compose my message like normal.

I am guessing that's what this means under the option "Auto Show Popup" : Yes (Currently only works in unlock mode). I have to assume that this feature is coming from the wording there.

 

[dougp]

It isn't that (I am not using any secure lock screen features). With Handcent, if I get a text message when the phone is locked, the phone wakes up and the text is displayed in a floating window. I can then respond the the text in that same window without needing to launch a messaging app. With Textra, the phone wakes up but the text message is simply displayed up in the notification bar. To respond, I need to launch Textra (or tap the notification possibly) and compose my message like normal.

I am guessing that's what this means under the option "Auto Show Popup" : Yes (Currently only works in unlock mode). I have to assume that this feature is coming from the wording there.

Probably. The app is updated pretty frequently, so I'd expect those things to fill in.

 

[Oyeve]

Ive been using Handcent for a longtime and love its customization ability. I also love the popup and respond capabilities on a locked screen.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Ive been using Handcent for a longtime and love its customization ability. I also love the popup and respond capabilities on a locked screen.

Does Handcent still look like ass? I looked at the Play Store screenshots and they look terrible... like how it did on Android 2.x. Maybe that kind of skinning was acceptable back in the day, but now its just regarded as ugly.

 

[rcpratt]

I've never been happy with any of the Android text/SMS apps from the customization and appearance quality perspectives. Maybe I'll try textra later.

 

[ControlD]

Does Handcent still look like ass? I looked at the Play Store screenshots and they look terrible... like how it did on Android 2.x. Maybe that kind of skinning was acceptable back in the day, but now its just regarded as ugly.

It looks better than those screenshots. Those must have been made with some type of custom skin applied. Out of all of the ones I have tried to this point I think I like the look of Textra and Chomp better though. The popup screens that Chomp uses look pretty much identical to BiteSMS so I am rolling with that one for now.

 

[Oyeve]

Does Handcent still look like ass? I looked at the Play Store screenshots and they look terrible... like how it did on Android 2.x. Maybe that kind of skinning was acceptable back in the day, but now its just regarded as ugly.

It looks much better. I dont know why they keep those old screen shots, but its definitely improved.

 

[zerogear]

If you used to use BiteSMS on iPhone, why not try ChompSMS? It's by the same developers

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.p1.chompsms

 

[ncroadster]

If you used to use BiteSMS on iPhone, why not try ChompSMS? It's by the same developers

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.p1.chompsms

Textra is also by them and is their new ICS+ only app.

 

[rcpratt]

Textra is nice. Looks and runs very slick. Wish it was more customizable (background colors, font size, contact picture size [way too big], emoji size [too small since I have the app scaled down]). Per contact bubble color/notification settings are nice.

My only real complaint is that my contact pictures (which are largely imported from facebook) don't seem to be auto-populating. Anybody have a fix?

Going to keep using for now. Thanks for the tip.

 

[obidamnkenobi]

Is Handcent that sketchy Chinese one? I got weirded out by bad english in the app a spammy feel. Didn't quite feel like sending all my sms info through
them..

edit; or maybe it was GoSMS? I tried them both and was not comfortable with either one. Felt kinda janky too

 

[Jinny]

thanks for the Textra suggestion. i'm using it now. it is brilliant. it is *fast* and super smooth. finally a texting app that doesn't have choppy scrolling.