iPhone SMSing beats the cell phone system and goes (virtually) free! |
 Written by Allison Wahl |
  (9 votes, average: 4.33 out of 5)  Loading ... |
Nowadays, we welcome anything that finds a way around the system (especially when the system requires exorbitant amounts of money from us). SMS texting is following suit, and app developers are coming up with ways for those who text too much or otherwise can’t afford texting to be able to send unlimited texts for free. There are many such apps surfacing in the App Store, and they function by utilizing e-mail as the mechanism for sending the texts.
Basically, all you have to do is input the phone number and cell phone carrier of the person you wish to send the SMS to and set up what e-mail account you’d like to use as the sending address (many apps just use the account associated with your iPhone), and you’re good to go. What’s more is that the only thing you need for the apps to work is WiFi, so even an iPod Touch can fulfill your texting needs. The following apps are the most popular, and, if you’re all about [essentially] free texting (who wouldn’t be??), just might be worth checking out.
- $5.99 to buy plus a “small annual fee” (but there is a free Lite version available that limits you to 15 messages a day)
- supports almost all US carriers
- supports emoticons- push notifications so even when you’re not using the app, you can receive texts (and know how many you’ve received)
- other Textfree users receive your texts for free, but non-Textfree users pay normal texting charges
- App Store rating: 4 out of 5 stars (for 4906 ratings) for current version
- Users say that: they love the notifications and the fact that responses don’t have to go through e-mail, very fast and reliable, it could only be improved by ability to send pic/video messages, a few minor glitches (e.g. it sometimes randomly closes) but overall amazing and worthwhile app
- $0.99 to buy
- supports 11 major US carriers
- new “Add My Location” feature which sends a link to your friends along with your text and allows them to access a map of your location
- use existing e-mail account
- recipients pay typical texting fees determined by the texting plan they have with their cell phone carrier
- App Store rating: 5 out of 5 stars (for 8 ratings) for current version (released July 27, previous version garnered 2.5 stars)
- Users say that: it has a great interface, is very fast, the new update has fixed any issues that occurred before, it’s useful and always seems to work
- $0.99 to buy
- supports most major US carriers as well as some international carriers
- ability to send picture links- buddy lists- coming soon: emoticons, more international carriers, ability to auto-detect the carrier of a number
- use existing e-mail account
- App Store rating: 2 out of 5 stars (for 141 ratings) for current version
- Users say that: there are issues with the responses getting sent to your email instead of the app, claims to be compatible with the iPod Touch but really isn’t, there are definite glitches but it’s very fast
