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I'm looking for an app that will let me type text messages on my PC and send the SMSs directly from the PC through my phone, or save the messages to the phone for later use.

I'm basically looking at something like Nokia PC Suite's equivalent.

EDIT:

Google Voice is only for US, doesn't work in India at least, and also defeats the purpose (it will go through the internet, why, when it's possible through the usb cable/modem/wifi).
DesktopSMS is a good program, but kept crashing, for some reason.
PDANet worked for me.
But I liked the tiny EasySMS. It's weird, and I had to change the bluecove library jar file for Windows 7 x64, but it's compact (a concern for me).

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    Yes, I also tooked EasySMS, since it does not require a client to be installed and hence also works under Linux.. But for long sms you also have to buy the full version..
    – math
    Commented Dec 21, 2011 at 19:10
  • I too finally settled on EasySMS.
    – IsmailS
    Commented Dec 30, 2011 at 8:34

10 Answers 10

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If you have Google Voice, you could send SMS that way. If not, you could try out DesktopSMS, an app that runs on the phone and a client app on your computer. That app is available on the Market, and then you can download the PC client from that site.

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  • Thanks for your reply, I've updated the question with the programs I tried out.
    – lalli
    Commented Oct 1, 2010 at 11:08
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    DesktopSMS can only send sms in free version, for receiving you have to pay.
    – math
    Commented Dec 21, 2011 at 18:58
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PDANet (a tethering program) will let you send and receive SMS via a little desktop client when you are connected to your phone via USB or bluetooth

Update as of May 2015: PDAnet apparently no longer offers its sms agent in its latest version.

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  • Thanks for your reply, I've updated the question with the programs I tried out.
    – lalli
    Commented Oct 1, 2010 at 11:08
  • Only for MAC and Windows :(
    – math
    Commented Dec 21, 2011 at 18:48
  • Can anyone confirm that it still work as in 2014 and on KitKat/Lollipop?
    – bizi
    Commented Dec 10, 2014 at 18:33
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MAXS (Modular Android XMPP Suite) allows you to send SMS messages over XMPP. It also allows you to control various aspects of Android, includes a SMS/Call/Battery notification and reply system. Additionaly it is able to send and receive files to and from your Android device. There are many other features too.

Using XMPP as transport, the "desktop app" can be every XMPP Client. Which is one of the big advantages of MAXS, as it does not need a dedicated desktop app. Although there may be one in the future.

Note: According to the FAQ I have to disclose that I am involved into MAXS. MAXS is an open source GPLv3 licensed Android app. Everyone can contribute.

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    MAXS is, to the extent of my knowledge, the only Android app to provide a fully decentralized SMS & contacts gateway. It is also open-source and very lightweight. It might be a bit rough to set up initially as the UI is quite bare, but otherwise an excellent (and maintained!) piece of software.
    – zopieux
    Commented Aug 30, 2016 at 11:48
  • I'm looking for open-source solutions, so this is a good option (+1). However, there is no end-to-end encryption, so security is only as good as the XMPP server you select. In fact, the developers recommend using your own XMPP server, which would further increase setup time.
    – Sparhawk
    Commented Sep 29, 2016 at 4:50
  • has there been updated this year? F-droid shows updates but links from the site are mostly showing 404 for me.
    – kyrlon
    Commented Jun 24, 2023 at 21:39
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MightyText is a Google Chrome extension/Android app that will let you compose, send, and receive text messages in Google Chrome by connecting to your phone. So it just forwards received messages from your phone to Chrome, and sent messages from Chrome to your phone.

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MyphoneExplorer is a desktop application which will help you send sms right from your desktop [requires phone to be connected either by usb wire/Bluetooth/wifi]. It is very easy to use and also numerous other features [for other features check website]. To get started you will need to download the desktop app from the website and also the android app which is available in the market for free.

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  • Great app - also allows you to archive your text messages on your PC so you don't have to scroll through 500 messages on your phone if you're someone who doesn't like to delete stuff :)
    – BlaM
    Commented Jul 16, 2011 at 14:15
  • Yes the features it offers is pretty good.
    – Abhirup Manna
    Commented Jul 29, 2011 at 20:47
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Go SMS Pro now offers that as a feature. When you go into the app, you can make an account on goChat and enable Web Go SMS in the apps tab. Once you have done that, you can log into your gochat account on http://webchat.goforandroid.com, and txt from there. It will send the message through your phone to the person whom you are trying to send the message to. This way, there will still be a record of the conversation on your phone, so you don't look back one day and wonder "what in the world was I talking about?... And why was this person txting me so much if I wasn't txting back?..."

The two things I like about this are that it doesn't require me to plug my phone into my computer, it does it wireless through the internet, and, Since you send the txt messages through a website instead of a program, there is nothing you have to install on your computer, and it makes no difference what operating system you use. In addition, this allows you to txt from any computer, not just the ones you install any given software on.

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If you're looking for a solution that uses your normal SMS plan and not your data plan, then try MightyText.

They have a webapp where you can type and manage your messages, but the messages are sent actually from your phone.

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  • It will also use the data plan, because it uses the internet to talk with the central server. (Just a few kb, though)
    – Magnetic_dud
    Commented Dec 1, 2012 at 17:23
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Edit 2014/07: I've switched to MAXS. See the answer here

Original Answer

GTalkSMS is a alternative for android-notifier which works over XMPP (gtalk). It allows you to control various aspects of Android, includes a SMS/Call/Battery notification system and is able to send and receive SMS from your Android phone.

By using XMPP as transport, the "Desktop App" can be every XMPP Client. Which is one of GTalkSMS big advantages, as it does not need an dedicated desktop App.

Note: According to the FAQ I have to disclose that I am involved into GtalkSMS. GTalkSMS is an open source GPL licensed Android app. Everyone can contribute.

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I use Mobile Cloud to send sms. cl4.mobi It's very easy to use and phonebook must be added soon. Developers promised to allow users to see contacts from your phone on their site and use them. so you won't have to enter phone numbers to send sms.

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  • How about a link? And what do you mean by "phonebook must be added soon"?
    – ale
    Commented Jul 8, 2011 at 18:43
  • cl4.mobi Developers promised to allow users to see contacts from your phone on their site and use them. so you won't have to enter phone numbers to send sms.
    – user89344
    Commented Jul 9, 2011 at 14:18
  • Please update your answer with this information.
    – ale
    Commented Jul 9, 2011 at 14:20
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If you want to do something REAL easy WITHOUT any applications, use the Email-To-SMS Gateway. Service providers basically set up special gateways where if you send an email to them, it forwards the message in the form of an SMS to the user's phone.

Here is the format:

To: [10 digit phone number]@[gateway email]

From: [email protected]

Body: Blah.

The "Blah" will be sent as an SMS to the 10 digit number.

Each Service provider has a different gateway. Here is the link that has a pretty comprehensive list: https://web.archive.org/web/20130225084136/http://www.mutube.com:80/projects/open-email-to-sms/gateway-list

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    Interesting alternative, but it requires that you know what carrier your recipient is using.
    – ale
    Commented Jul 8, 2011 at 18:48

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