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You don't switch away from your PC to your smartphone to reply to an email or an instant message, so why should a simple SMS message be any different? Thankfully, if you have an Android device, you can continue using your PC (and its full-size spacious keyboard) to read and send text messages. Our choice for this task: MightyText.
- Part 1: 3 method to extract and view iPhone messages in Windows or Mac OS In order to view iPhone messages on computer, we need a tool to scan and export the messages from our device to a computer.
- Tap on a notification to quick reply or be taken straight to the Messages app. Launch the Messages app at any time to view or reply to an SMS/MMS. Updated August 2018: All the steps are the same in iOS 12.
MightyText
Platform: Android, Web, Chrome
Price: Free ($4.99/month Pro)
Download Page
Price: Free ($4.99/month Pro)
Download Page
Features
- Syncs SMS and MMS on Android phone and Web
- Stores messages up to 6 months for free (forever for Pro users)
- Syncs contacts from phone
- Syncs photos and videos from your phone's gallery, with editing and filters
- Add media from preloaded gallery of popular GIFs, videos, memes, emojis and quotes
- Favorite texts
- Default list view, grid-based power view for multiple conversations
- Battery indicator
- Notifications for incoming calls
- Dial a number from the web (needs phone to talk)
- Ring your phone to find it
- Chrome extension to send messages from Gmail and Facebook chat windows
- Schedule text messages to send later (pro only)
- Save message templates (pro only)
- Create contact lists for easy group messages (pro only)
- Send messages to 25 people at a time (pro only)
- Add signatures (pro only)
- Block certain numbers from syncing with MightyText (pro only)
- 11 additional themes (pro only)
Where It Excels
Of all the different PC text messaging solutions for Android, MightyText is the easiest to use. Install it on your Android, sign into Gmail, fire up the webapp and you are ready to go. The app hooks you with the 'it just works' charm and then unloads some handy extra features to keep you happy. The big seller is how effortlessly it syncs your text messages, whether you are connected on Wi-Fi or using a data plan. The Power View makes it easy to carry out multiple text conversations simultaneously. Plus, if you use the Chrome extension, it will give you pop-ups when you are in your Gmail or Facebook tabs, much like how an incoming chat message looks in those windows. And you can compose new messages too. The Pro version ($39.99/year or $4.99/month) takes it up a notch with the ability to schedule messages and save templates—both useful features that are worth the money if you text a lot.
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Where It Falls Short
Search. That's the biggie missing in MightyText and there doesn't seem to be a good explanation why you can't search through all your text messages, even though they are right there. It's not even available in the Pro version. The preloaded gallery of GIFs, videos and more is limited, doesn't have great material, and there doesn't seem to be a way to add your own to it, but we're not too broken up about that. MightyText also has some issues with MMS on Android phones that aren't using the stock messaging app, so if you are using a text messaging replacement for Android, you may have to switch it off from 'default' to solve the problem (at least, according to the MightyText FAQ).
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If searching through your text messages is important to you, then AirDroid—which is a complete Android-to-PC control solution (not just texting)—is your best option. One of the main features of remote controlling your Android through the Web is robust text messaging support as it indexes all your messages and carries out quick searches. However, MMS support on AirDroid is weak in both sending and receiving files, especially if you are messaging to a non-Android phone. In our tests, MMS messages sent to an iPhone and a BlackBerry didn't go through at all, and the BlackBerry's MMS didn't come through either.
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A popular second option is DeskSMS, but there doesn't seem to be much reason to consider it, especially considering it requires an annual $5 subscription. Both MightyText and AirDroid are better options, but it does have one thing going for it: integration with Google Talk/Hangouts. Plus, it's got a nifty tablet app called TabletSMS that basically lets you handle text messages on an Android tablet.
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And, obviously, one of the best alternatives for text messaging from your PC is to use Google Voice. However, while Google Voice can do a lot of other things—like forward calls, integrate with Gmail for VOIP, and other stuff like that—its texting features are pretty mundane. Google Voice doesn't support MMS (except on Sprint), its texting has a lot of weird bugs (like splitting up messages and showing them out of order), and overall just isn't that special. If you want to use MightyText but still get the other features of Google voice, there are other ways to get those features.
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Lifehacker's App Directory is a new and growing directory of recommendations for the best applications and tools in a number of given categories.
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When Verizon notified me last week about its new integrated messaging service, I had to try it right away. In a nutshell, the service lets phone text messages be received and answered from any device running its Verizon Messages app. These include Android and iOS devices, making it useful for those using either/both platform(s).
I was excited to try this service, as it seemed from Verizon's description that it would solve a big problem for me. I have an iPhone 4S on Verizon but the phone I use daily is the Galaxy Note 2 on Sprint. Forwarding my calls from the iPhone number to the Note 2 works fine, so I don't miss any calls to that number, but text messages don't make it. I have been missing lots of texts to the iPhone while out with just the Note 2.
The Verizon Messages app is available for the iPad and Android phones and tablets, so the first thing I did was install it on the iPad. This has 4G long-term evolution (LTE) on Verizon so I figured it should work. Running the app for the first time on the iPad triggered a text message to be sent to my iPhone for security. This is a great way to make sure I have possession of the phone for which I want to access text messages with other devices.
That's all it took; from that moment, any text message sent to my iPhone can be read and answered on the iPad within the Verizon Messages app. After verifying this was working, I installed the app on my iPad mini, also a 4G LTE tablet on the Verizon network. Same security verification and it was then working on both tablets.
When I receive a text message on the iPhone, the message is also sent to both the iPad and iPad mini. Now I can respond to those messages as if the iPhone was with me, no matter which iPad I'm carrying. It has worked flawlessly so far.
Text Message App Download
Since both of the iPads are on the Verizon network with integrated 4G it's not surprising the app and service work. I did wonder if the Nexus 7 tablet could also receive texts even though it is a wi-fi tablet without cellular connectivity.
![Apps for monitoring text messages Apps for monitoring text messages](/uploads/1/2/6/0/126081909/651173552.jpg)
Installing the Verizon Messages app on the Nexus 7 let me test it and I'm happy to report the text messages come in just fine. This is pretty powerful stuff as it turns the Android tablet without cellular capability into a text messaging machine. This should work for anyone with a phone on Verizon who also have an Android tablet with wi-fi.
App To Read Text Messages
The Verizon Messages app uses the device's contacts for texts with permission at installation. This includes iOS and Android so sending a text message is as easy as typing the contact name and selecting it from a drop-down box.
Ongoing conversations using text messages can be held across all devices where the integrated messaging is activated. Users can switch among the devices without missing a beat. This works just as it does on iOS using the Messages app on that platform. While the Apple version is carrier independent, the Verizon service works on both Android and iOS as detailed.
The app and service from Verizon is free and is available now. Verizon states that text messages are archived in the system for 90 days, but they can be saved locally to SD card on Android devices.