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Privacy matters more now than ever — these apps will help

28 Comments
Posted by Jerry Hildenbrand on 6 Feb 2017 10:00 am
Privacy matters. It may not matter to you as much as it does to others, but how we control who gets what when it comes to our data and when we communicate is still a very important discussion to have. It matters now more than ever and will matter even more as time goes by because tools and tricks to get unauthorized access to our stuff get better and better. Here in the United States, there...

RCS for T-Mobile subscribers could be here any day now

40 Comments
Posted by Florence Ion on 31 Jan 2017 6:07 pm
Users have reported seeing the RCS support option sprout up in Messenger for Google's settings panel. T-mobile users, your text messaging prowess is about to get more rich — in the sense of Rich Communication Services, that is. T-Mobile customers have mentioned on Reddit and Google Plus that they're seeing the RCS option pop up in the settings panel on the Messenger for Google app. But it's...

Best Messaging Apps for Android

99 Comments
Posted by Florence Ion on 30 Jan 2017 10:00 am
Which apps are worth using to stay in touch? We've got the scoop. Best Overall WhatsApp See at Google Play There is almost no contest. WhatsApp is an all-inclusive messaging app that's all you need for staying in touch, no matter where you are in the world. WhatsApp merely relies on whether your phone has an Internet connection — whether that's through cellular or Wi-Fi — so it's great...

Unified messaging is a joke, and it probably always will be

137 Comments
Posted by Russell Holly on 18 Feb 2016 1:59 pm
Unified messaging
Smartphones caused a major shift in how we communicate, and sacrificing unified messaging was the cost of getting there. Not all that long ago, I was a 'Linux-or-bust' kind of user. I had everything I needed, and one of those things was a unified messaging client. For me, that app was Pidgin. I loved Pidgin because it worked, and I never had any problems with it. The app wasn't exactly feature...

This week's sidebar poll: How do you chat with your friends and family?

143 Comments
Posted by Jerry Hildenbrand on 14 Jul 2015 6:36 pm
Google Hangouts
There are plenty of ways to keep in touch. What's your favorite? A look through Google Play will quickly tell you that there literally hundreds and hundreds of different messaging apps and platforms to use on your Android. Each has their pros and cons, but a handful garner all the attention — and most of the users.

The top 5 text message replacement apps for Android

172 Comments
Posted by Jordan Miera on 29 Sep 2014 2:19 pm
Text messaging apps for Android
Don't like the IM app on your phone? Check out these replacements! So maybe the standard messaging app that came on your phone isn't the best. You may think it's a bit clunky or doesn't pack a lot of punch when it comes to features. Luckily, we can replace those with other messaging apps. Most of them will bring some different design elements to the table, as well as additional functionality...

Yo: The million-dollar app that does a single stupid thing

71 Comments
Posted by Derek Kessler on 19 Jun 2014 10:34 am
Yo: The million-dollar app that does a single stupid thing
There's a new app, maybe you've heard of it, yo. No, seriously, that's the name of the app, Yo. As in, "Yo dawg." Yo does one thing, and one thing only: it sends a contact a notification of "Yo." No message attached to that, no images, no context, just "Yo from RENERITCHIE". It took eight hours to code, and yet somehow it's sweeping the globe in monosyllabic fashion, and even more inexplicably...

Sicher from the IM+ team promises to keep your messages 'super-safe'

8 Comments
Posted by Adam Zeis on 18 Jun 2014 10:25 am
The IM+ team wants your messages to be super-safe
Sicher, a new "super-safe" messenger has arrived today on Windows Phone, iPhone and Android devices. Sicher (pronounced "Zee-her") comes from the team behind IM+ and brings free, encrypted chats and file transfers to users. Using the app, you'll be able to chat, send files, photos and voice messages to other users. Sicher goes so far as to not show incoming messages on your lock screen (only an...

250 new emoji could be coming to a phone near you

23 Comments
Posted by Chuong H Nguyen on 16 Jun 2014 8:04 pm
250 new emoji characters could be headed to a phone near you
The Unicode standard has been updated to add an additional 2,834 new characters, which includes about 250 pictographic symbols, or emoji. This expanded list of new symbols could help to add personality to messaging, such as SMS and MMS, Apple's iMessage, BlackBerry's BBM, Google's Hangouts, and other services.

Hangouts update adds custom notification sounds for each chat

35 Comments
Posted by Andrew Martonik on 4 Jun 2014 5:34 pm
Google Hangouts
Hangouts is receiving a small update today, and while the changelog hasn't been updated on the Play Store just yet there are a few small differences we're noticing. First up is a new "hidden contacts" area of the settings separate from the "blocked people," giving you a way to hide folks from your contact listing but not block their messages completely. Individual chats can now have different...

Snapchat updated with text chat and video calling

38 Comments
Posted by Alex Dobie on 1 May 2014 7:01 am
Snapchat
Self-destructing photo-sharer Snapchat has been updated today with a couple of major new features. Previously you'd have to take a photo if you wanted to send any kind of message through the service — now text chat is accessible by swiping right from the main camera view, then swiping again on the person you want to chat with. As you might expect, message history is wiped when you swipe away...

FireChat bringing off-the-grid messaging to Android

15 Comments
Posted by Simon Sage on 3 Apr 2014 12:36 pm
FireChat bringing off-the-grid messaging to Android
Messaging without the internet FireChat found its way from iOS to Android today, offering an interesting, decentralized way of instant messaging. FireChat plugs into a kind of mesh network, where mobile devices connect to one another over Wi-Fi Direct and Bluetooth, and not requiring any outside involvement on the internet. Obviously the range on this is limited, but at least it works when you...

AT&T rolls out unlimited international messaging for texts, pictures, and video

16 Comments
Posted by Derek Kessler on 25 Feb 2014 2:06 pm
AT&T rolls out unlimited international messaging for texts, pictures, and video
If you happen to be on one of AT&T's Mobile Share plans and have friends, relatives, acquaintances, coworkers, or just people you want to message with that happen to live outside of the United States, then we've got good news: AT&T is making international messaging free on February 28th. In addition to the free messaging, AT&T is rolling out reduced international calling rates. The...

'Instagram Direct' private messaging is now official

24 Comments
Posted by Andrew Martonik on 12 Dec 2013 1:05 pm
Instagram Direct
Direct messages from strangers require extra step before receiving Following a general rumble of expectation for weeks, Instagram has just launched its own private messaging service. With the latest update to version 5 of the app, you can now send images and videos directly to individuals and groups rather than your entire follower base. You'll be able to select where your image goes — to "...

Hangouts update hopes to fix MMS issues

92 Comments
Posted by Andrew Martonik on 9 Dec 2013 3:04 pm
Hangouts
Option to send group messages to individual recipients also included Hangouts is making the subtle jump to version 2.0.2, bringing fixes for the way the messaging app handles MMS. Although the issues haven't necessarily been widespread, many who have updated to the latest Hangouts and began using it for text messaging have been running into issues sending and receiving MMS. While this update...

Imo messenger adds 'People Near Me' feature

14 Comments
Posted by Andrew Martonik on 13 Nov 2013 11:44 pm
Imo Messenger
Popular messaging service Imo added a new feature today that helps friends meet up. The feature is called "People Near Me," and while the idea may not be new to the group messaging space its an important addition to a popular app. When you open the People Near Me page, you'll see other users with the app open to that page in a specific (although unknown) radius based on your GPS location. The...

Hangouts adds proper status indicators, improved contacts management

39 Comments
Posted by Andrew Martonik on 25 Sep 2013 4:00 pm
Hangouts
Making it easier to find the people you want to converse with most Along with notable updates to Gmail and Google Voice, Hangouts is receiving a bump to version 1.2 to add new features. The latest update makes it drastically easier to see who is online and available for chat and who is not, with green chat bubbles indicating online and grey ones indicating offline. When you're browsing through...

GIF Chat launches on Android, offers looping video clips and text messaging

4 Comments
Posted by Andrew Martonik on 15 Aug 2013 3:07 pm
GIF Chat
Another way to show off your 6-second video skills. The group messaging app space is full of great choices, but GIF Chat is trying to get in on the craze with its own set of features. Walking the line between apps like Snapchat which only do short video clips and fully-featured voice, video and text chat apps like Viber, GIF Chat offers group chatting with up to 6-second looping video as well...

WhatsApp updated with new voice messages

15 Comments
Posted by Alex Dobie on 7 Aug 2013 7:13 am
WhatsApp
Messaging service WhatsApp has updated its mobile apps with support for one-press voice messaging. The new feature, activated by holding down the microphone icon, allows short message clips to be recorded and exchanged as part of a conversation through the instant messaging service. Effectively a touchscreen-based push-to-talk feature, the new voice messaging button in WhatsApp records when it's...

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