Hi,
Are there any iPhone apps out there that allow you to choose an entire group in one go, when sending a group text? I send group texts out on a weekly basis to up to 100 people. I have all the contacts in one group which I organize automatically by using smart groups in Address Book. It is incredibly time consuming and irritating not being able to choose an entire group, and having to choose individual contacts to add to the address field.
Has anyone tried to write an app like this? Is it feasible?
I have written iPhone apps in the past, and would write it myself. I just thought I might ask everyone on here if it's been tried to save me the time of researching...
Thanks for any input,
Nigel
As a (new to iPhone) UK user too, I am frustrated that I am unable to send a text to a group without having to add each individual member of the group one by one in the "To:" box. Every week I send several texts to various groups of 300+ Until last week when I was using a BlackBerry 9700 that wasn't a problem. I chose the group in my menu, selected "send SMS", wrote the message and then clicked SEND. Hey presto, the text message would be sent to each and every member of the group.
The only "solutions" I have seen are far from what I would call a solution... for a start, most are written for the US and Canadian markets only, are restricted to 50 contacts and use some form of free service using a North American network, so are of no use to the rest of the world. As part of my bundle I have unlimited free texts, so paying for an alternative "solution" whereby I log in to a web site, type my message and then send the message to my group at 0.5p per message is not one I consider viable... i would be spending over £20 a week on top of the £30 a month contract with Orange. The "alternative" is for me to spend an hour or so adding each and every contact in my 300+ group, send the text and then remember NOT TO DELETE IT so that I can use the same "text history" to resend messages in the future.
I was under the impression the iPhone was a serious business tool, not an expensive gimmick!!!
I switched to an iPhone the other day, when I was offered an upgrade, because my BlackBerry would never sync properly with my iMac or MacBook. I thought having an iPhone would solve many of my problems (such as the fear of losing 1200+ contacts if anything went wrong with my BlackBerry)
Instead I find that I have a so called modern tool that is no better than a phone I had 15 years ago!
As for the poster who said "If you do "group" texting why not just shoot off a group email ?", in the first place not everyone has a phone that accepts emails, and if you are trying to tell a large group of people, some of whom who may be unable to receive emails, that an event they may be on their way to attending has been canceled at the last minute, the quickest and simplest solution is to send a text message.
We in Europe, who send far more text messages per head than those in the US, understand what a valuable business tool an SMS text can be... what a shame Apple don't!!!
My only solution, and one that may seem unpalatable to many here (it certainly is to me as a Mac user for many years) is that I'm going to return my 5 day old iPhone as not being fit for purpose and carry on using my BlackBerry. And sadly, because of the syncing problems, I will also be swapping my iMac and MacBook for Windows PCs... a retrograde step in many ways, but from a business point of view I see no other solution.
SHAME ON YOU APPLE!!! But then, I suppose that's what we should expect from a company that started making computers but now makes mobile juke boxes... what do they know about phones?????
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