Texting on Computer

[Ruben]

At my university I am one of the few who possesses both a PC (Lenovo) and an Android (Nexus 5). What can I say? I'm a CS major. And I've never looked back or felt regret....until now.

I am extremely jealous of my Apple counterparts in their ability to send and receive texts from their computer and (seemingly) over WiFi.

Question 1:
It is my understanding that iPhone users can not send and receive texts over WiFi (not iMessage--SMS). Is this carrier specific for them?

Question 2:
I saw that T-Mobile has the ability to text over WiFi. Truth to this? I'm on a month-to-month contract, so I'm considering the switch for this since there is no reception in the center of the cinder block engineering buildings.

Question 3:
Why don't we have this? I know I can send/recieve using Hangouts with my Google Voice number, but this is of little use to me. And I believe it is a super complicated mess to give my number to google and then get a new one for my phone.

Thoughts?

 

[lovecars]

I have a motorola Droid Turbo that when you install Motorola Connect and add the Chrome extension to your browser it let's you see and answer Texts without looking at your phone and also lets you text to recent calls.

 

[rrballer11]

At my university I am one of the few who possesses both a PC (Lenovo) and an Android (Nexus 5). What can I say? I'm a CS major. And I've never looked back or felt regret....until now.

I am extremely jealous of my Apple counterparts in their ability to send and receive texts from their computer and (seemingly) over WiFi.

Question 1:
It is my understanding that iPhone users can not send and receive texts over WiFi (not iMessage--SMS). Is this carrier specific for them?

Question 2:
I saw that T-Mobile has the ability to text over WiFi. Truth to this? I'm on a month-to-month contract, so I'm considering the switch for this since there is no reception in the center of the cinder block engineering buildings.

Question 3:
Why don't we have this? I know I can send/recieve using Hangouts with my Google Voice number, but this is of little use to me. And I believe it is a super complicated mess to give my number to google and then get a new one for my phone.

Thoughts?

I'm an IT major and I agree somewhat to a certain extent. The thing is google that I know of doesn't have a 100% default texting app, like IOS has. So hopefully they can build off of this new messenger.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[Hypnotoadd]

I use mighty text to send texts from my pc. It's a free Android app & generally works well.

 

[JimSmith94]

I use texting and calling over Wifi on T-Mobile all of the time. The only problem I have at the moment is that I can't send or receive MMS with the stock Messages app while on Wifi, so I disconnect it for those only.

For texting from your computer, I recommend Pushbullet: https://www.pushbullet.com/. It works great for the times that I don't feel like picking up my phone, plus I type better on my PC. I get the texts over Wifi (or cell signal), and they display and can be replied to or initiated from the PC, so it should fill your needs.

 

[sting7k]

At my university I am one of the few who possesses both a PC (Lenovo) and an Android (Nexus 5). What can I say? I'm a CS major. And I've never looked back or felt regret....until now.

I am extremely jealous of my Apple counterparts in their ability to send and receive texts from their computer and (seemingly) over WiFi.

Question 1:
It is my understanding that iPhone users can not send and receive texts over WiFi (not iMessage--SMS). Is this carrier specific for them?

Question 2:
I saw that T-Mobile has the ability to text over WiFi. Truth to this? I'm on a month-to-month contract, so I'm considering the switch for this since there is no reception in the center of the cinder block engineering buildings.

Question 3:
Why don't we have this? I know I can send/recieve using Hangouts with my Google Voice number, but this is of little use to me. And I believe it is a super complicated mess to give my number to google and then get a new one for my phone.

Thoughts?

1. SMS does not work on wifi (except with Tmobile see below) because it's a service run by the carrier not by Apple or Google. However, iPhone users can have their SMS forward to their Mac on the same wifi network and also respond to those same SMS messages from their Mac. This is Mac/iOS feature.

2. Yes T-mobile can do both calling and SMS over wifi. I believe AT&T and Verzion are going to be implementing it at some point in 2015.

3. None of us work for Google so we can't really say. I would wager it's probably because there is no single SMS app across every Android device manufacturer that Google could tap into. Google would also need to make software for either Windows or OS X since Google lacks a desktop OS. I think there is a Chrome extension for Hangouts that does something similar; check the Play Store.

 

[Hypnotoadd]

Mightytext - as well as others, work just fine for texting over wifi. I use it on Sprint now but it also worked great on Verizon.

 

[gone down south]

Verizon let's you send and receive texts through their website.

 

[LeSaint]

I'm using Airdroid. If sms is the only thing you want to do, then it's not the best. But if you want remote functionality like file management on your phone from your PC, or file tranfer, then it's pretty good.

 

[Steven Johnson3]

I've just started using pushbullet for desktop notifications (via a chrome extension) which seems to work well. In the same boat though for texts as there's no mobile signal at my house, so I end up using a messy combination of Facebook messenger, whatsapp and hangouts!

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[Hypnotoadd]

Here's a nice article that talks about all 3. http://www.guidingtech.com/33996/mightytext-vs-pushbullet-vs-airdroid/

 

[BartmanJax]

PUSHBULLET!!!!!

Install it on your phone (N5) and install the extension in your browser (I use Chrome). Works perfectly!

 

[Hypnotoadd]

Mightytext also has a chrome extension. OP you have some strong recommendations in this thread & hopefully one of them will meet your particular needs.

 

[anon(285475)]

Honestly the most reliable solution would be to get a Google Voice number and text using Hangouts with that number. Works on phone and computer and through wifi/data. I've used mightytext/pushbullet/ airdroid, but they just aren't reliable and still require your phone to have a cell network connection to work.

Just get a new number with Google voice instead of transferring your existing one. And give out that Google voice number to the people you want to text using it.

 

[btroberts011]

Use push bullet! Download app on your phone and the crome extension or the direct app on the computer. It works good and allows you to see and reply to text messages without taking you phone from your pocket.

G1, myTouch(rooted), nexusS, Nexus5

 

[N4Newbie]

One thing to consider depending on your circumstances would be AirDroid (https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...s/details?id=com.sand.airdroid&token=FHcF-vU_). It'll give you pretty much full access to your phone from your PC's Internet browser or, alternatively, from the AirDroid app available for Windows or Mac.

Also see https://www.airdroid.com/

 

[bastiani]

I have been using Google Voice to text on the computer for years now. It works fine with the Google Voice app, which I have installed on my android phone and iPad. Only problem is that when I receive a picture message, the picture goes to email instead of to the google voice app. Also, when I am part of a group text, I only see the messages sent to me. When I reply, I reply only to sender and am unable to see the rest of the people in the original group.

So, I decided to switch to the hangouts app so that I could receive picture messages and so that I could see all parties in a group text. Both of those features work fine, BUT I am unable to send an SMS to more than one person at a time. My work around for now is to ask one person in the group to text all of us. From there, I can participate in the SMS conversation. Silly, if you ask me.

Last glitch, the Hangouts app on my iPad won't allow me to initiate an SMS. It also shows only the phone numbers of messages I receive even though those people are in my address book. Again, silly.

I'm wondering if I can use a different app with my Google Voice number to get all the "normal" features of texting in one place. (By the way, I do not use my cell number because I do not pay for text messages on my phone contract. Using Google Voice gives me free texting).