How can I conveniently text message from all my devices?
February 12, 2011 11:15 AM Subscribe
Are there ways to do my text message correspondence from my Mac and my iPad? I would greatly prefer a solution that does not require me to switch phone numbers or send from different phone numbers/addresses on different devices, I don't want my recipients to have to know different addresses/numbers for texting me. Ideally I would like my texting to be like my IMAP email, the same no matter what device I check it from.
I've looked into this same matter, and unfortunately, there is no perfect third-party solution that meets all of your requirements. Google voice (which I lovewith all of my heart!) will force you to create a new phone number and do your texting to/from that number through their website, your email inbox, or a Google Voice app for the iPad.
That being said, if you can handle the fact that you have to have a second number for texting, Google Voice does exactly what you want, and does it very very well. I've been extremely satisfied with it in the 10 months I've used it.
Above, volition mentioned porting - if you do port your number to Google Voice, it cancels your contract with your current cell phone company! Thus, if you have an Early Termination Fee, you'll have to pay that, and also have to pay to activate/set up "new" service with the company of your choosing. Cell phone companies have not been amenable to the whole idea of "Let me port out my number and assign me a new one" idea - They make you jump through all the hoops.
posted by lizzicide at 11:30 AM on February 12, 2011
That being said, if you can handle the fact that you have to have a second number for texting, Google Voice does exactly what you want, and does it very very well. I've been extremely satisfied with it in the 10 months I've used it.
Above, volition mentioned porting - if you do port your number to Google Voice, it cancels your contract with your current cell phone company! Thus, if you have an Early Termination Fee, you'll have to pay that, and also have to pay to activate/set up "new" service with the company of your choosing. Cell phone companies have not been amenable to the whole idea of "Let me port out my number and assign me a new one" idea - They make you jump through all the hoops.
posted by lizzicide at 11:30 AM on February 12, 2011
I called AT&T before I ported once and they had me set up a new line with a new number, and after I ported the old line went away, with no ETF.
Oh, really? And it didn't lengthen your contract or result in you getting charged a new activation fee? Cos if so, excellent. I'm going to try that trick with them this month when I port my number to Google Voice.
posted by lizzicide at 2:27 AM on February 13, 2011
Oh, really? And it didn't lengthen your contract or result in you getting charged a new activation fee? Cos if so, excellent. I'm going to try that trick with them this month when I port my number to Google Voice.
posted by lizzicide at 2:27 AM on February 13, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
Note. I haven't tried this myself, but I think it will do everything except use your same number (unless you port it to google voice).
posted by volition at 11:24 AM on February 12, 2011 [1 favorite]