Comments on: Smart SMS tricks for a dumb phone?

Question: Smart SMS tricks for a dumb phone?

BlackBox — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 21:13:05 -0800

Smart SMS tricks for a dumb phone?

I have a dumb phone and I have no desire to jump on the smartphone bandwagon. I want to get as much utility and functionality out of my phone as possible. I can already send and receive tweets via SMS and I also text Google for phone numbers, definitions and directions.

Are there any other tips/tricks/services that I can employ to do more smartphone type stuff with my dumb phone?

By: Rhaomi

Rhaomi — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 21:32:59 -0800

You can use an SMS Q&A service like ChaCha to find quick, human-powered answers for questions that would be too tedious to look up on a dumbphone browser.

By: lollusc

lollusc — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 21:37:00 -0800

Google calendar can be set up to SMS you reminders.

Also, I once used a service that forwarded emails with certain keywords (e.g. "Important") or from certain people (e.g. your boss) direct to your phone via SMS. But I can't remember what it is called, sorry. I'm sure there are other similar services around.

By: nicwolff

nicwolff — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 21:58:55 -0800

Lots of ideas in the Textually archives.

And where were you and a few hundred thousand like you when we dumped $2 million of investor money into Foneshow?

By: dancestoblue

dancestoblue — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 22:02:42 -0800

My bank (Frost, Texas) txts acct balance, will transfer from one acct to another, a few other services -- bill pay I think? I've not (yet) set it up, just noticed it on Thursday, looks like a winner to me though.

And yes, Google calendar shoots me txts as reminders, real nice..

I also text Google for phone numbers, definitions and directions.
First I've seen of these Google services, thx for heads-up on this; I also have dumbest of dumb phones and not interested in spending big bucks for more phone than I'd currently use.

By: Eyebrows McGee

Eyebrows McGee — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 22:22:51 -0800

You can also add items to your Google calendar by sms.

Weather.com (among others) will text you weather alerts from a daily forecast to "warning! Tornado now!" for your location. I use this even though I have a smart phone because I het the severe weather alerts faster and louder by text.

My library has an SMS alert system ... books due in 2 days, your reserved book has come in, etc. You cam even renew by text. Makes it a lot easier to go due-book hunting when I have the list in my hand on my phone!

By: clerestory

clerestory — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 22:33:59 -0800

There's this service, DotGo, that online content producers can use to add sms-based browsing to their websites. I haven't used it, just heard the interview in the NY Times tech podcast.

By: dancestoblue

dancestoblue — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 22:40:26 -0800

Found on textually (Thank you nicwolff) that Walgreens lets you refill prescriptions using SMS, also sends reminders that your scrps need refill.

By: R343L

R343L — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 23:05:57 -0800

Some bus/transit tracking systems (e.g. NextBus in the SF bay area and OneBusAway in Seattle) have text systems where you can request directions, arrival times at stops, etc via SMS. I used the one in SF regularly until I got a smartphone.

By: Lovecraft In Brooklyn

Lovecraft In Brooklyn — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 23:47:04 -0800

I used to save texts as drafts when I needed a notepad

By: lilkeith07

lilkeith07 — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 04:15:53 -0800

You can use the site if this then that to set up plenty of things to do with text messages. Such as sending you texts when the weather changes, stocks change, somebody uploads a picture of you to facebook, or anything else from the services they provide. You can also text things to the service and it will post it on sites you want. I would check out the recipes to get a better idea of what people are doing with the service.

By: dragonplayer

dragonplayer — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 04:26:04 -0800

I set up reminders for Remember the Milk on my phone.

By: msbrauer

msbrauer — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 06:33:22 -0800

Here's google's page about all their services offered by sms.

By: BlackBox

BlackBox — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 09:05:46 -0800

Cool! SMS tip overload. Thanks again, HiveMind.

By: nicholai88

nicholai88 — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 11:05:56 -0800

SMS Google search

By: davextreme

davextreme — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 14:08:33 -0800

Twitter started off as an SMS service. There's info on the phone commands on Twitter's site. You won't be able to follow links but can post and receive tweets.

By: andrewcilento

andrewcilento — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 17:23:29 -0800

This isn't an SMS trick per se, more of a dumbphone trick, but I feel obligated to mention it anyway: the University of Pittsburgh's fact line, 412-624-3228, is basically Dial-a-Wikipedia. Super useful.

By: reenum

reenum — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 08:18:05 -0800

I'm exactly like you. Here's what I've found so far:

1. I use the DotGo family of shortcodes to access websites.
2. I use SMS to update Twitter, Facebook and Google Plus.
3. I use Chext to keep track of my checking account balance.
4. 4Info can send you alerts about a variety of different topics.
5. Amazon allows you to buy things via SMS.
6. Fuelly allows you to enter in fuel ups via SMS.
7. I post on Blogger via SMS sometimes.

Finally, here's a directory of SMS shortcodes.

Enjoy!