[OT] PC to Phone for SMS

[Dave Liquorice]

Using the phone for SMS more than occasionally is a PITA, tiny key board, touch screen that detects touches not quite where I think I touche it and the remor doesn't help.

So what (Android) apps are out there that allow sending of SMS from the phone from a PC? Must fit:

WiFi connection for phone into LAN to talk to PC. Not need/use/require any form of cloud based system to function. Not use a browser plugin on the PC side. No ads or tags in any sent messages. Not want to synchonise anything other than SMS between PC and phone. Free, sans ads. Though for something good I'll pay a quid or two.

A quick look on the Play Store list hundreds of things but most seem only to be backup/restore, use a browser plugin and/or use the cloud to send messages.

Ones I've spotted so far are SMS Centre (KD Apps), Yappy SMS (MariusSoft LLC), MySMS (MySMS...), Computer SMS text (MobiTexter), PhoneLeash (GearAndroid).

Anyone have any experience with these apps?

[Mike Barnes]

Would that rule out sending the text to yourself in an email? Then select-all/copy/paste to SMS app.

[Murmansk]

Airdroid

Mightytext

[Chris French]

In message , Dave Liquorice writes

No, I do occasionally use an app called Airdroid, which I use to access the phone interface from browser, so can be used to send SMS (occasionally, not because there is anything wrong with it, but because I'm not generally sat at a pc when I want to send a text).

I use an app called tablet talk on the tablet to send messages from the phone. Which gets more use as I'm more likely to have the tablet handy

[Huge]

Blackberry Blend. Connect the 'phone to a PC, via WiFi, Bluetooth or cable & access the phone's email and SMS functionality from a full-sized GUI on the PC. It's bloody marvellous.

Of course, it does mean you have to buy a Blackberry Z10 or Z30 'phone, but that's no bad thing.

:o)

[Roger Mills]

As an alternative, have you considered using an external keyboard, connected to the phone by Bluetooth?

[Dave Liquorice]

2nd vote...

I'll have a look.

Thanks for the other responses.

BT Keyboard: A possibility and would be useful when out and about. How ever this is mainly to cover when at home and sat at PC.

Change to a Blackberry something. I'm happy with my phone, this is my fourth phone or maybe only my third phone since I got a mobile phone in about 1993.

Email to phone, copy 'n paste into SMS app. Clunky. Doesn't really break the "no cloud" restriction local email never leaves the LAN. Does break the not wanting to use tiddly touch screen keyboard though.

A PC app talking directly to a phone over the LAN may also be useful in conjunction with the ADSL backup via mobile data. Get a cheapy phone instead of the travel router. Enable its hotspot, connect, run some app on any PC and any one can send an SMS. They would have that phones number rather than that of the real sender though. If the data back up is required enable mobile data and alter the default route, messy compared to moving a plug from one port to another.

[spuorgelgoog]

Can you log into your mobile phone provider's website and send SMS from that?

Or get a Sipgate Basic account and you can send SMS from its web control panel. If you send a free authorisation code to your mobile phone it will have the 'from' set as your phone's number.

Owain

[JoeJoe]

The one I have used for a few years now is MyPhoneExplorer.

It does a lot more than you are after - including synchronising calendar/contacts/sms/any file on the phone and either its own database or Outlook. However, all the functionality you do not require can be disabled.

It is 100% reliable, free, and connects to your phone using either WiFi, Bluetooth or a USB cable.

- Supports multiple phones, so I use it to backup all the phone in the house.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

You and me both, Dave.

My old Nokia N95 allowed just this via the Nokia PC suite. Could also do things like edit/update the contact list etc all from the comfort of a proper keyboard and decent sized screen - as well as the phone, obviously. Only difference being I used a cable connection to the PC - never did investigate if the Wi-Fi one would work.

When I 'upgraded' to a Samsung S4, I expected exactly the same - only better. How wrong can you be...

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Does it do this by storing your data on a cloud somewhere - or just on the PC HD etc?

[alan_m]

If the screen rotates the keyboard keys are larger and easier to use if a phone is held in the landscape position.

Speech to text works well on many smartphones although you do need a data connection to use it. Depending on the phone/OS version there will/may be a microphone icon on one of the keyboard keys.

[Dave Liquorice]

Breaks using the cloud and using a browser conditions.

At 8p each IIRC, my phone is currently unlimited and even when I change tariff the chances are there will still be more texts that I'll ever use.

Also breaks the cloud/browser conditions

That's sort of useful to know, ta.

[Dave Liquorice]

SMS Control Center does the SMS bit not sure about editing contacts. It is also cloud free. However I think there is a bug in the delete routine somewhere. I'm sure I had one conversation highlighted, clicked delete, it warns you (but doesn't have the coversation name in the warning), agreed and the conversation below the one I thought I had highlighted was deleted.

Highlighting them all in the deleted folder and moving them back to the inbox. Didn't work either, it just made multiple copies of a single message that it then complained about deleting as the conversation they were supposed to be in couldn't be found...

It's not a bad app and PC software but needs some bugs squishing...

Airdroid looks interesting, yet to play with that. But it appears you get a virual phone on your PC. It would like you to use the cloud but I think you can access your phone directly but via a browser.

Naw its the two steps forward that way, two steps backwards over there.

[JoeJoe]

Your own PC HDD

[JoeJoe]

See MyPhoneExplorer. Does everything...

[Jacko]

Not really. The only problem with the S4 is that capability isn't supplied by Samsung, you have to use third party apps and when you do, you end up quite a bit better off than with the N95. And I have both myself.

[Dave Liquorice]

If you haven't looked at MyPhoneExplorer do so as I think it will fit the bill. Direct, non-cloud, communicatoin from PC to phone vis BT, USB or WiFi. SMS Control Centre has a nicer SMS interface but see my other comments about possible bugs.

These are the only two that I've found so far that don't use the cloud, insist on syncing with an account somewhere or want you to sign up to their subscription service.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Thanks, Dave. Installed the software ok on the PC - but as usual find it a PITA on the phone. The PC prog has a help file for connecting via Wi-Fi and USB, and can't get the phone to load any of the bits that says are needed. But I'll keep trying. Might be better to wait until the nursery chucks out and get one of the kids to do it for me. ;-)

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Turned out everything needed for both Wi-Fi and USB connections were already on the phone - just needed settings adjusted.

It seems to be just what I wanted - all the facilities of the old Nokia sofware.