Depending on whether or not you enjoy actually using your vocal chords to communicate with people, the SMS app on you device might be one of the most important. Sure, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger are great, but you can’t ensure that everyone is going to be on there all the time, but everyone can use SMS, even those older friends and family that still have something they call a “flip phone”. Our list of the Top 10 Best SMS Apps for Android should have a little something for everyone here.
hello sms
Hello SMS is a simplistic, yet fully-featured approach to SMS messaging. It hides your conversation view away in one panel to the side, and it’s a great app for those that use profile pictures, as you just tap a face to start talking to this particular person. It puts the emphasis on the text messaging once again, and it’s nice and quick as well. Free to use with a dark mode, there’s a lot to like about hello sms.
MightyText
MightyText is not your traditional SMS app in that you don’t really interact with it on your Android device. Instead, you install it on your phone and then sign in with the same account on another computer and then send messages from your PC. This is great for those that work with a computer all day long, and as it comes through SMS nobody should know your neat little secret.
QKSMS
QKSMS is an Android app that focuses on a simple, yet appealing experience. It’s fully-realized with a Material Design look and feel and it’s also nice and speedy, too. It looks good, has lots of different settings and its free without the need for ads or anything like that. It’s also completely open source for folks that like that sort of thing, and Android Wear has not been forgotten, either.
Google Hangouts
Hang on a minute, Hangouts is an instant messenger, not an SMS app, right? Well, it’s both. Hangouts pulls double-duty by offering to combine your Hangouts contacts and SMS contacts into one app, and it allows you to send either an SMS or a Hangouts message whenever you like, which is fairly convenient, plus if Hangouts is your primary IM, this kills two birds with one stone.
HoverChat
HoverChat, which used to be known as NinjaSMS, is a great way of keeping in touch with friends and family without leaving the current app you’re in. A great addition for phones on the larger side of things, HoverChat can keep you in that YouTube video while you confirm plans for later, or let your little continue their film while you send a quick SMS to a colleague. Great for everyone, HoverChat offers up all kinds of themes and contact management as well as hovering heads above any running app.
invi SMS Messenger
invi SMS is a relative newcomer to the game, and it hopes to change things for people that send a lot of messages. It’s both an IM messenger as well as an SMS app, allowing you to choose whenever you like, but it also has built-in mini apps as well, like a YouTube app and some games, allowing you to stay in one app and share some fun with people, all at the same time.
Google Messenger
How many messaging apps does Google really need? Well, this is purely an SMS app, and it’s been built from the ground up for devices running the latest versions of Android. It’s designed completely with Material Design in mind, and it’s ever-so simple to use everyday. A perfect alternative to the one that comes installed on your phone, this is quick, solid and reliable.
Coffee – SMS on Android Wear
Coffee SMS is another offbeat inclusion in this list, and it’s great for those that want to send quick messages to people, but don’t want to use their voice. It’s been around for some time now, and there’s more than enough on offer in terms of features. You can program all sorts of messages and the interface is well-suited to your watch, and it just works.
GO SMS Pro
GO SMS Pro is an app from the massive GO Dev Team, and it’s predictably jammed full of different features and themes. There’s a private box for hidden SMS messages, a myriad of different themes to use and there are all sorts of other tweaks and changes that are available to you using GO SMS. Plus, it’s free.
Textra SMS
Textra SMS is one of the best SMS apps on Android, and it’s one that does it all without every slowing down or getting in your way; it just works, always. It’s great for those that want to customize the way their apps look, and for SMS fiends that enjoy sending a lot of content like images and so on, this makes a great option there, too. A brilliant replacement for whatever other SMS app you’ve been using, this is highly recommended.