Top 4 SMS Apps for Android!

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Gear up pack! It's time for some amazing SMS apps for Android today!! So, the other day I was thinking that, what is the most basic function that any mobile device performs regularly and on a daily basis?? What do we mostly do on our phones?? And the answer was straightforward! Yes, messaging!! Messaging is one of the most vital function that a smartphone performs! Sure, we live in a world of Whatsapp and Viber, but good old carrier dependent text messaging still exists, especially when the internet is not around.


Unfortunately, Smartphones today come equipped with crappy SMS apps out of the box. Fortunately, Android OS allows us to replace those SMS apps with more functional, beautiful and smart messaging apps and gives us the power to set them as default. Play Store is house full of such messaging apps and after using dozens of them, I've found four, which I can share with you.

1. Textra SMS
Textra SMS is one of the best messaging apps in the Play Store. Its light, fast, polished and feature packed. It has got everything to get a normal user hooked instantly. On the outside it seems like a basic messaging app, but as you start to dig into the settings, you realize its real strength. It gives you two basic themes, light and dark. You can also change the color of the notification icon and the Led. And the best part, you can allot different colors to different contacts, so you can easily identify which contact have sent you a text.

It also has SMS pop up feature, which is on by default, but you can choose to turn it off. You can also pin the quick compose button to the notification panel and access it easily in case you need to send a quick text message. If you are a fan of emojis then you can also download Textra emoji plugin for it too. To be honest, the main attraction of Textra is in its simplicity and fluidity. It strikes a perfect balance between features and user experience so anyone that uses it is bound to fall in love with it.  Textra is completely free and there are no Ads..

2. Hover Chat free
Next in the line is Hover Chat free. Remember the chat heads of Facebook messenger?? Well, Hover chat brings the same functionality to the SMS app, only its much more feature rich and awesome than Facebook messenger. The use is simple, whenever you get a text message, a chat head appears showing you the name of the sender, you can then press the chat head to open a hovering window showing you the message,you can also drag the window anywhere on the screen. This feature adds to its multitasking ability exponentially and allows the user to keep doing other stuff on his phone while sending and receiving messages simultaneously.

It also comes with a slew of customization options ranging from changing the shape, size  and color of the chat heads to the transparency of the hovering window. You can manage pop ups for each contact separately and enable custom notifications as well. It's one of the most valuable feature is encryption of the messages to prevent NSA from snooping in on your personal conversations. Though, it only works if the person you are sending the message is also using Hover Chat. It comes in a free and paid version, the free version is good enough to cover your basic needs.

3. Evolve SMS
Evolve SMS is aesthetically the most advanced of the bunch. It's gorgeous and and it comes with tons of customization options. Opening the app takes you to the first conversation in the list. You can swipe to left to jump between conversations and swiping from the left edge of the screen opens up the sliding drawer where all your convesations are listed.

On the top of each convesation is a header which can also be personalised, you can add Facebook or Google+ cover photo up there. It also has a lot of other features that I've mentioned in other apps such as pop up notifications, full multimedia support, mms, video sharing, audio, contacts and GIF support. You can also archive the messages to release an extra load of the app and you can also batch delete the messages. The interface is simple yet elegant and it doesn't seem like you are using a usual SMS app. Swiping between conversations is definitely a plus. You can also password protect the app and better, you can password protect different conversations separately, but it comes as an in app purchase feature so you have to pay up before you can utilize it.

If you are a fan of beautiful apps that provide best in class functionality, then Eveolve SMS is your best bet. It has every feature an SMS junkie can desire and lots of features are free. But if you want to customize the look and feel of the app and lock your conversations, then you have to pay for the customizations pack to unlock these features. There is so much more in this app which I cannot explain here. Download it and see for yourself what an excellent messaging app it is!

4. Hello SMS
Hello SMS is very easy to use messaging app. Its design is minimalistic yet beautiful! It covers all the basic features of an SMS app but doesn't go too far into a customization war. It has a tabbed interface, you get a persistent bar on the left where the initials of your conversations are listed, from there you can quickly hop between different conversations. It comes with a light and dark theme support.

If you are looking for a simple, fast, gorgeous and easy to use app, then Hello SMS is for you. It's free and there are no Ads.



So people these were the four messaging apps that were able to make a cut in this article. Yes, there are  many other apps out there, but these four are the only beauties with brains! And better yet, they cover almost every feature and customization options we look for in a messaging app and they are free! Download them, use them and do give your feedback in the comments. If you know a messaging app that I've missed, do share with us. See you next time folks.


Download links:  Textra SMS, Hover Chat free, Evolve SMS, Hello SMS