Good app for sending text messages for free/cheap over wifi?

[HXGuy]

Going to be traveling to Europe and was wondering what a good app is for sending text messages from Europe back to the US...either from the App Store or Cydia.

I want something where the receiver does not have to also have the app like is the case with textplus (I think).

Thanks.

 

[jermy4]

textfree

 

[dranakin]

I'm a fan of Textfree. It actually gives you a 10-digit number that is designated as your texting "phone" number, so it'll work when sending to any carrier. Works fast over Wifi.

 

[b-rad g]

+1 for TextFree. I used it when I had an iPod Touch and it works great. You even get to have a choice much cooler alert tones than the iPhone.

 

[iggypod]

textfree

+1 for textfree unlimited.

 

[Steagles]

+69 for TextFreeUnlimited

 

[HXGuy]

Nice, thanks guys. I just got it and it looks great.

Am I correct in understand it only works over Wifi for the iPhone? Or does it work over EDGE/3G and if so, how does that get billed? What happens in another country if you are using their SIM?

 

[nburwell]

Nice, thanks guys. I just got it and it looks great.

Am I correct in understand it only works over Wifi for the iPhone? Or does it work over EDGE/3G and if so, how does that get billed? What happens in another country if you are using their SIM?

It should work over both wi-fi and the cellular data network. Since it's uses up data, you will be billed for data charges. But if you're stictly using wi-fi, then you shouldn't need to worry about data charges. Are your plans to only use your iPhone in "airplane" mode while in Europe and use free available wi-fi? Or are you purchasing a SIM over there and popping it in your iPhone?

 

[HXGuy]

Ill be purchasing a SIM while over there with a local number. I wonder what their data rates are and how much data does a text message use?

 

[nburwell]

That would be something you have to look up either online or when you get into the country you're flying into. Either way, I know it's cheaper than AT&T's international data plans, so you'll definitely be better off with the popping the European SIM into your phone.

 

[HXGuy]

I've been before (Romania) and sending a text to the US using their SIM (Orange) was 25 cents per message if I remember correctly. I wonder if it will be cheaper using TextFree via their data.

 

[nburwell]

You can always try to Google cell phone providers in Romania and see what their rates are for data. I would imagine you would pay less using TextFree + their data rate instead of their text rate since you'd be essentially sending texts back here to the states.

 

[HXGuy]

This is what I found for Orange Romania...

The Internet Mobile Access service is charged differently depending on the connecting technology (CSD / 3G / EDGE / GPRS).

Connecting over the CSD technology:

* charging is made for connection time
* charging unit: the first minute is indivisible while the following minutes are charged per second


Internet (545)
charging per connection time
(EUR/min) peak 0,04
off-peak 0,02

peak: Mondayi-Friday, 08:00-20:00;
off-peak: Monday-Friday, 20:00-08:00; anytime on Saturday andSunday

Connecting over the 3G / EDGE / GPRS technology:

* charging is made per traffic volume
* charging unit: KB (Kilo Byte)
o 1 KB = 1024 Bytes
o 1 MB = 1024 KB
o 1 Byte = 8 bits
* tariff per MB: 0.9 EUR

What is CSD technology? Does the iPhone even do that? I assume I will be over 3G/EDGE/GRPS so it looks like it's around $1.00/MB, give or take.

How much data does a text message use? I did a quick search and found a simply text email is around 20KB so can I assume a text is the same or less? If so, I should be able to send/receive ~50 text messages for $1.00.

In comparison, sending a text message from Romania to the US is $0.16 for outgoing and incoming are free of charge, so the same 50 messages (assuming 25 sent and 25 received would cost about $4.00).