New to iOS & iPhone 5 - Have some Q's regarding SMS ..

[ahmadka]

Hi guys ... Well yesterday I made the move to go from my Android (after 2 years on it) to iPhone 5 ... Spent the whole of yesterday doing all the migration stuff

I have some questions regarding the SMS feature. My business actually requires me to do a lot of communication via SMS, so that's why I need the features listed below. I don't mind buying a paid 3rd party app for it as well, if needed.

1) How can I store 'quick texts' in my iPhone 5 ? That is, store a few SMSs which I'll likely be sending repeatedly to different people ?

2) Scheduled SMS ? Is there a way to have an SMS sent to a specific person at a specific time ?

3) Is there any way to send texts to people via your PC ? Sometime I have to type *really long* SMSs (big enough to get split across 6-7 small SMSs), and so texting via a PC is a blessing for such scenarios ... Is this possible somehow ?

4) Send SMS to an entire group ? I have different groups defined in my Google Contacts, which I was able to bring to my iPhone 5 via a 3rd party app. So suppose I want to send an SMS to an entire group ? Also, manually adding group members to an SMS thread is virtually impossible, as the groups can contain as much as 50 ~ 70 people !

And like I said, I don't mind buying any 3rd party apps to get the above functionality

And lastly, do note that I only intend to send normal carrier-based SMS texts .. Nothing over the internet, and nothing through MMS ..

[matttye]

1) store them in notes and use the share button to send them from there.

2) not possible with stock iOS but you might want to try this:


https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/emai...548128380?mt=8

3) not possible with iOS itself but you could try this app:


https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/sms-...491632249?mt=8

Alternatively buy a Bluetooth keyboard. Works really well. I have one keyboard for my PC, iPhone and iPad, and I just pair it with whichever device I want to use it with.

4) again not possible by default but there's an app:


https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/text...519077434?mt=8

Hope this helps I haven't tried any of the apps so there may be better ones available.

[Gav2k]

1, setting > general > keyboard > add new shortcut

[Zeromancer]

Originally Posted by matttye

1) store them in notes and use the share button to send them from there.

2) not possible with stock iOS but you might want to try this:


https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/emai...548128380?mt=8

3) not possible with iOS itself but you could try this app:


https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/sms-...491632249?mt=8

Alternatively buy a Bluetooth keyboard. Works really well. I have one keyboard for my PC, iPhone and iPad, and I just pair it with whichever device I want to use it with.

4) again not possible by default but there's an app:


https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/text...519077434?mt=8

Hope this helps I haven't tried any of the apps so there may be better ones available.

3) is possible with messages on OSX

and 4) You can just send texts to People at Once with the + button or typing more names.

[matttye]

Originally Posted by Zeromancer

3) is possible with messages on OSX

and 4) You can just send texts to People at Once with the + button or typing more names.

3) He said PC, not OS X.

4) He said there's 50-70 people in his group, so adding them all individually is not really a viable solution.

[bjb.butler]

You should've stuck with android

[haruhiko]

Originally Posted by matttye

3) He said PC, not OS X.

4) He said there's 50-70 people in his group, so adding them all individually is not really a viable solution.

4) Grouping is possible with PC/Mac iCloud syncing or some apps in the App Store like Groups 2.

[lelisa13p]

Originally Posted by bjb.butler

You should've stuck with android

How, pray tell, is that helpful to the OP?

[ahmadka]

Thanks for the replies guys ..

Originally Posted by Gav2k

1, setting > general > keyboard > add new shortcut

What is this for ?

Originally Posted by matttye

1) store them in notes and use the share button to send them from there.

Thanks. I will try this out. Kinda lethargic, having to switch between apps, but at least its better than nothing ..

Originally Posted by matttye

3) not possible with iOS itself but you could try this app:


https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/sms-...491632249?mt=8

Alternatively buy a Bluetooth keyboard. Works really well. I have one keyboard for my PC, iPhone and iPad, and I just pair it with whichever device I want to use it with.

Has extremely bad reviews ... Sounds too good to be true for the iOS platform, but I'll check it out anyways .. Bluetooth keyboard is probably a good idea, but I actually use a laptop, so if I buy this, it'll only be for the iOS devices, which would not be efficient really ..

Originally Posted by matttye

4) again not possible by default but there's an app:


https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/text...519077434?mt=8

I tried an app named 'Groups' (http://appshopper.com/productivity/g...cts-management) to send an SMS to an already defined group. The group to which I sent the SMS contained 46 people. I asked them if they received that SMS, and so far half of the people have confirmed that they received it .. The other half haven't said anything so far, so I'm assuming that didn't receive it .... Any ideas what might be causing this ?

Originally Posted by bjb.butler

You should've stuck with android

Yeah that was a bit harsh ..

[Gav2k]

It allows you to set up a alphanumeric string that triggers a sentence. Like omw becomes On my way!

[bandofbrothers]

I use an app called 'templates' which i got from the uk app store.

With this i can set up texts i send regular.

[matttye]

Originally Posted by ahmadka

I tried an app named 'Groups' (http://appshopper.com/productivity/g...cts-management) to send an SMS to an already defined group. The group to which I sent the SMS contained 46 people. I asked them if they received that SMS, and so far half of the people have confirmed that they received it .. The other half haven't said anything so far, so I'm assuming that didn't receive it .... Any ideas what might be causing this ?

How long did you leave it? 46 text messages would take quite a long time to send, especially around new year when networks are oversaturated with well wishing messages

And I think Gav2k meant that you could use the text shortcuts feature instead of templates, so you could create a shortcut to automatically change "hhau" to "Hello, how are you?" for example.

[ahmadka]

I actually did another test 2 days ago ... I sent those 46 texts to 46 people, in which I asked them to reply back if they received that text ... So far 56% of people have replied back that they HAVE received that text .. The other 44% have not said anything so far .. :/

Also, through my tests I've noticed that some people randomly miss out in receiving group texts ... That is, suppose I send 2 batches of those texts, some people WILL receive the first one, and not the second, and vica versa ..

What can be causing this ? Probably a bug in iOS ?

[Rocko1]

Apple stores offer free classes on how to use the iPhone. Might be a good place to start.

[ahmadka]

Originally Posted by Rocko1

Apple stores offer free classes on how to use the iPhone. Might be a good place to start.

lol, I hope that wasn't supposed to be sarcastic

I've figured and resolved everything more or less .. Only this group messaging thing is still not 100% resolved .... If I send out a text to 46 people, about 50% receive it while the other 50% don't ... If I now send another 46 texts to the same 46 people, a different set of about 50% now receive it, while the other 50% dont ... Since there's inconsistency here, I feel its probably an error on the OS's part ? Maybe it skips out on some people randomly ?

[lelisa13p]

FWIW, my sister has the same problem. She regularly group-texts friends & family to keep us updated on a family member's progress while in hospital. About half of us don't get the messages and it doesn't seem to have any rhyme or reason as to who gets left out of any given batch.

[Rocko1]

Originally Posted by ahmadka

lol, I hope that wasn't supposed to be sarcastic

I've figured and resolved everything more or less .. Only this group messaging thing is still not 100% resolved .... If I send out a text to 46 people, about 50% receive it while the other 50% don't ... If I now send another 46 texts to the same 46 people, a different set of about 50% now receive it, while the other 50% dont ... Since there's inconsistency here, I feel its probably an error on the OS's part ? Maybe it skips out on some people randomly ?

What did Apple tech support say?

[ahmadka]

Haven't asked them yet. Official help doesn't ever really help imo, unless its Amazon