Favorite non iMessage SMS app?

[mgridgaway]

Hey all,

I've been using textnow for the longest time, and while it's a good sms app, I feel like I could do better. I've tested at least half a dozen, but haven't found the perfect fit. I love textie's clean interface, but I hate the fact that it uses email gateways and not a real phone number. I've settled on textme at the moment, but it's still not a perfect fit.

What is your favorite sms app and why? Thanks everyone!

Edit: Just to clarify, this is for non-jailbroken iphones. I hear bitesms is great, but since it's not in the app store...

 

[MastahRiz]

What'sApp, Textfree, and Textfreak, and Google Voice are all worth looking into. Everyone usually ends up picking one or a combination of the above. I may have overlooked some but those are prob the big four, and yes, bitesms is the ultimate texting app :- )

 

[mgridgaway]

I've heard good things about Whatapps... but it doesn't support sending SMS to non smart phones, correct? Unfortunately, the people I talk to the most either don't text that much or don't have a smart phone. I've tried textfree and didn't really care for it. I will try out textfreak though.

Checked out Textfreek a bit online but haven't downloaded it because it hasn't been updated in a while and costs money (apparently they just started charging for it). Does it support phone numbers or is it through email gateways?

As for google voice, I'm really looking for something that's strictly messaging without the extra fluff of voice stuff.

 

[MastahRiz]

Yeah you're right, WhatsApp is for smartphones only and not based on texts, but rather App messages to another phone with the same App.

Google voice does come with other stuff like voice, but the texting is still a very well made feature that pretty much beats out all other apps. Also, it's ad-free.

 

[mgridgaway]

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Alrighty. Maybe I'll check that out when voice gets added back to the AppStore.

 

[TeamHotch]

I found whatsapp constant system fails rather annoying. So moved to LiveProfile. Works multi platform and very fast and clean interface.

 

[MastahRiz]

I found the exact opposite. Liveprofile was pretty annoying and had limited features when I first used it. I've used What'sApp for over a year and rarely had any complaints.

 

[steve-p]

I've been using WhatsApp for 6 months now and there have only been two outages in that time. That is two too many, but on the whole it's a stable app that's very useful if you regularly text a bunch of people on different smartphone platforms as I do.

 

[MastahRiz]

Plus it's free, works internationally and still has more features than liveprofile.

 

[zorinlynx]

I used to like Google Voice, but then I noticed that it start missing messages after a while. You have to restart the app for it to start getting messages again. It also used to be crashy and would sometimes lock up; I don't know if they've fixed it as I haven't used it in a while.

So lately I just have GV forward texts to my phone via SMS. It's reliable and works well, and is handy for texting people in other countries without paying for each text.

 

[jagooch]

TextFree for Me

I moved overseas last year, which is also when I got an iPhone from Softbank,. The most popular texting app Americans here use is Textfree(with Voice). I like how I could get a virtual U.S. number for my friends to text to and for me to text from. I rarely use it for voice as coverage is spotty where I'm at and plus I'd rather text anyway.

Some of the neat features are integration with your contacts, custom tones when people text you, and the ability to send photos as attachments.

Something I wish it would do is let you export conversations into a text file. There are a few I'd like to keep for sentimental reasons but right now the app doesn't have that feature.

I'm not sure that I'll keep using it when I return to the United States next year, it depends on if I keep using an iphone, and how well the iMessage performs when I have an actual(not virtual) US phone number again.

 

[9822737]

Plus it's free, works internationally and still has more features than liveprofile.

If you're referring to WhatsApp it's not free as it is always at the top of the paid apps chart of late!

While not free, it's definitely worth the small charge as the developer(s) put a lot of effort into and it is one of the most regularly updated apps in the store (which I know isn't always a good thing!)

EDIT: Here in the UK it's only £0.69 so definitely worth it.

 

[steve-p]

If you're referring to WhatsApp it's not free as it is always at the top of the paid apps chart of late!

While not free, it's definitely worth the small charge as the developer(s) put a lot of effort into and it is one of the most regularly updated apps in the store (which I know isn't always a good thing!)

EDIT: Here in the UK it's only £0.69 so definitely worth it.

It's free on other platforms I believe, just iOS they charge for. Whatever, it's worth every penny.

 

[9822737]

It's free on other platforms I believe, just iOS they charge for. Whatever, it's worth every penny.

Ah cool I didn't know that. Kind of wrong though, why should iOS users get charged for it and no other platform?

 

[steve-p]

Ah cool I didn't know that. Kind of wrong though, why should iOS users get charged for it and no other platform?

No idea. I think they used to charge on all platforms, but then made it free on others. Perhaps you can't change an app from paid to free on iOS without renaming it or something.

 

[9822737]

No idea. I think they used to charge on all platforms, but then made it free on others. Perhaps you can't change an app from paid to free on iOS without renaming it or something.

Can't see it being that as i've seen many apps go from paid to free. I'm interested to know now I may have to contact the developer to find out!

 

[steve-p]

Maybe it will become free in response to iMessage anyway

 

[ohio.emt]

let's see E-mail, any instant messaging app, or google voice.

 

[tivoboy]

textfree

i've used textfree about five years now and it has only failed me a couple times (servers overloaded)

I also like the fact that it has free calling (have to download some apps, but they are free) that I use when travelling overseas.

 

[9822737]

i've used textfree about five years now and it has only failed me a couple times (servers overloaded)

I also like the fact that it has free calling (have to download some apps, but they are free) that I use when travelling overseas.

Really!? Is it an app? Has any app been around for that long?

 

[tivoboy]

no

Really!? Is it an app? Has any app been around for that long?

no, but the company before it, pinger was and it worked on other platforms prior to ios. It really took off when they went FREEmium and ios.

EDIT: And changed the name to textfree

 

[9822737]

no, but the company before it, pinger was and it worked on other platforms prior to ios. It really took off when they went FREEmium and ios.

Cheers that makes more sense!