When I first tried internet text messaging, I was immediately hooked on it. It was easy all you needed was an account. With more and more cities having free or cheap municipal WiFi, this option is definitely worth considering for users living in such cities. While I was intrigued, I never found much use for it, thanks to the low rates I had with my previous cellular provider. But as I have recently switched providers and the rates are pretty high, looking for alternatives is a priority.

I first covered sending internet text messages in this post on how to send cheap SMS. The methods describe in that post can still be applied today but if you have tried it out, you might also realize that the software had some bugs here and there and that it’s user-interface was not too friendly. For example, I sometimes wondered if my text messages had been sent. Well, since the writing of that posts, things have changed, for the better, and now there are more software for you to choose when you need to send a text message through the internet. Which brings us to today’s free software review.

Introduction

IPSMS is actively being developed by skandler of XDA Developers. He has been working hard in recent months, tweaking the software based on feedback from users and recently released v0.2.7. While the software is still not perfect at the moment, it is a lot better than the one used in tutorial on sending cheap SMS and is something that I would recommend. Not only does it improve the user-experience, it adds some nice features as well.

Notifications

Audio Notifications	Visual Notifications

For one, it adds both audio and visual notifications when you send a text message. This way, you can be sure when your text messages are sent. But if audio is not to your liking, you can also disable that and just be notified on screen when your message has been sent.

Favorite Contacts

I usually send text messages to a select few of my contacts. So it would be great if I had an icon for each of these contact in the program. That way, whenever I need to send a text message, I just need to tap on the icon and the number is filled. No more selecting names from a drop down menu but rest assured that if you need to do so, that option is still available.

Integrated Inbox & Outbox

Integrated Inbox	And Integrated Outbox

When you send text messages, there are times when you are expecting replies and switching between the application and your inbox can be tedious. However, with IPSMS, it takes tedious out of the equation because when you receive a text message while in the application, it automatically switches to Inbox view so that you can read the reply, and if need be, send another message out.

Support For Several Providers

Unlike other applications that only support one or a few providers, IPSMS supports a wide-range. From SMS77 to SMS Bug and even the various solutions of VoipX such as VoipBuster Pro, VoipStunt and FreeCall; you can pretty much use IPSMS with your internet text message account. And if the account you are using is not supported by IPSMS, why not let the author know about it. He may just add it in the next version.

And if you like the interface of IPSMS that you would like to use it when you are always sending text messages, you can. That’s because IPSMS allows you to send text messages through your cellular provider. Just choose Network from the drop-down list of providers and the rest is as per normal.

Abbreviations

For users who love using abbreviations, then you’ll be glad to know that IPSMS has this feature too. All you need to do is change the pre-set ones to the ones you use most often and the next time you want to use it, just tap on the box containing the said abbreviation. Saves you time don’t you think?

Conclusion

This s definitely one of the better internet text messaging applications there are out there. While the accounts are not free to use, it is usually cheaper to send text messages through the internet than through your cellular provider. And if the text message you are sending is to an overseas number, the savings would be even greater if you are doing so on a regular basis.

My only quirk with internet text messaging is that it does not show my number when I send out text messages but this problem is related to my provider. Hopefully they can get that sorted out soon. When that happens, I am sure more and more users will jump on this bandwagon of internet text messaging.

Tags: free software