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SMS from Chrome, fully sync'd with your Android phone (chrome.google.com)
80 points by maneesh1 5531 days ago
21 comments

This is almost -exactly- what I need. What would make it -killer- is a client app for my Xoom honeycomb tablet in addition to the chrome extension. If I could respond to texts received on my phone without having to put away my tablet, that would be amazing.
Google Voice!
I have GV, but some people still have and text my native #
That's a "solution" which may or may not be an option in 1 of the 203 countries on earth.

In an ideal world we should strive for something better.

This service, along with other interactive features, can be realized trough GTalkSMS, a jabber account and an IM client e.g. Pidgin.

I've used this combination for some time, and been quite satisfied with it. The only issue I've had, is that the GTalkSMS app steals alot of resources while running on my android phone. I hope this is not the case with Texty.

http://code.google.com/p/gtalksms/ http://www.jabber.org/ http://www.pidgin.im/

A feature I really like in Texty is the Desktop Notifications.

Like Growl, but also lets you click reply and respond to the SMS as well.

It's just easy and works.

With the suggested combination, it is just as easy. When you receive a SMS, it will be notified on the desktop as any other IM you receive. Simply typing your response in the text input, will reply to the last received SMS.

I really like the UI of texty, e.g. threaded conversations. That is, as far as i know, not possible with GTalkSMS.

Overall, any seamless interaction with my phone from my desktop is greatly appreciated.

What is the difference between this and the google voice extension (https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/kcnhkahnjcbndmme...)?
This lets you not have to deal with a separate phone # and set up.
What about the battery issue one review alleges? Is it true?
I don't think so. I have used texty (~50 texts/day) for over a month now and has not seen any impact on battery.
Ah, very nice. Now all I can do is wait for the invite :/
Google Voice is not available outside the US.
I completely agree with you, I don't even know the phone number my provider gave me, all I use is my Google Voice number what's the point of using a different one?
Often I have wished my texts would show up on my computer screen. Texty does just that.

I've been using it for a few weeks and it's totally awesome. It's threaded, syncs with my phone, and is essentially instantaneous. Honestly one of the few killer apps for Android.

If all you want to do is be notified of events that are happening on your phone (sms, calls) you can use http://code.google.com/p/android-notifier/

It even shows you the phone number and in the case of sms, the contents.

Didn't know about that before, pretty cool.

I like responding through my computer though :)

I use EasySMS for Android to do essentially this, but its compatible with any browser. I leave it open in a tab in my Firefox, and when I hear my SMS notification tone I go see who sent me a message and reply back etc. It is a nice piece of software as an alternative to this option.

I get a LOT of SMS messages, so this is a hugely useful application for me. I actually switched to Android just to get access to the EasySMS app--from Maemo/N900.

1. Another instance where (google.com) is quite misleading.

2. The screenshot, and this is as politely as I can put it, makes the app look quite unfinished.

Re: 1 - we linked to the chrome page because that has the most complete info about the application, plus user reviews.

Re: 2 - we'll surely admit that the UI is not great right now -- but we are improving with each release. we want to get it out to people as early as possible, though, so we can get real feedback and build accordingly!

Does this service still incur normal SMS fees from your carrier?
Yes
Yes since all the SMS'ing is done through your phone.
SMS from any browser, fully sync'd with your Android phone. Login with your FB account. Available at http://mashtext.mashmobile.com/start
That's pretty cool - although it's having trouble matching up some of my messages to contacts, and threading them.
Seems to be stripping phone numbers and thus fails to send anything when I select a number from my contacts. I am in Finland and numbers look like +3584012345678, but the text gets sent to 584012345678.

This gets confusing, as the sent items are shown correctly in Android Messaging, but the messages are not delivered.

Also: Please add support for delivery reports.

(Copying my comment from the google extension page without a few typos.)

Sorry about this - we'll look into this right away...can you shoot us an email at INFO AT TEXTYAPP.COM?

We are iterating on the Chrome Extension daily as we launch features and encounter bugs like this.

Exchange Server 2010 supports syncing SMS and sending SMS via your phone in Outlook. To send it goes Outlook > Exchange Server > Phone > Carrier > Recipient. However it is only supported in Windows Mobile 6.x. A little annoying that this isn't supported in Windows Phone 7. This is functionality that I have long desired!
Texty only supports Android phones right now.
Props to TextyTeam for cleverly emailing new beta users to ask them to upvote this post on Hacker News :)

This looks really sweet. Just the other day I was asking for an easy way to send text messages from my computer rather than having to grab my phone.

I used to do this with bluetooth way back when, so far I'm really enjoying this implementation.
Google Voice and this extension are practically the same. However, GV is only available in the US, therefore the new extension cover a solution for world-wise users (that currently using apps like WhatsApp sms messenger, Texty and others).
Great app!

However, it would be nice if it could use a different google account from the one that I am logged into in chrome. (my phone has its own google account)

I've been using Deskdroid for this purpose. Works pretty well. http://deskdroid.com
one thing I like about Texty is the real-time Desktop notifications that pop up (like a Grown Notification) whenever I get a new text.

I don't have to be in an app to get these notifications - as long as chrome is running, I get these notifications, whether my active window is chrome.

Does Deskdroid do this too?

This is the kind of thing that, if Microsoft did this with Internet Explorer + Windows phones, they would land in court over.
requires >= android 2.2.

i am stuck at 2.1 but so want to use this.

Anything like this for iOS?
Am I missing something? Why not just use Google Voice?
Because people outside the US don't have access to Google Voice.
We built this because our experience with Google Voice was awkward. Having multiple phone #'s didn't work for us.

This basically mirrors the SMS activity/stream on your phone, onto a Chrome extension.

If you're using multiple numbers with Google Voice, you're doing it wrong and missing the entire point.

"Mirroring SMS conversation in a chrome extension" is precisely what Google Voice does. I can receive and reply to texts from any keyboard with a keyboard, or from my phone if I'm AFK.

You should try this out for a few hours and see the difference.

Just the fact that it gives you HTML5 Desktop Notifications with easy way to reply, and syncs with your actual texting stream on your phone (not GV) makes it worth looking at.

> syncs with your actual texting stream on your phone (not GV)

I don't have an "actual texting stream". My texting is all 100% free and through my Google Voice number. Google Voice offers me more features than this application can by the very nature of how it works.

Because everybody I know has my real phone number.
If that is indeed the only thing stopping you from using it, you can port your existing number to Google Voice.

http://googlevoiceblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/port-your-existi...

Our view is that many people don't want to break out of their existing contracts with their carrier -- which one has to do when porting their current # to GV
Many people are stuck in long term contracts with their carriers. When you port your #, it breaks that contract.

This is definitely not for everyone, but if you look at the comments from users, you'll see why people are using it:

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/dkfhfaphfkopdgpbfk...

is this available worldwide? Google Voice isn't so that could be a reason
Invite only?
We're immediately giving access to anyone who mentions they saw it on Hacker News.