For one, they work as long as you have a data connection. The obvious disadvantage to these systems is that both parties need to have the app, but there are several advantages. You can’t use it to send texts to other countries.Īnother solution is to use a proprietary messaging system like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Signal or Telegram, which can all be used from smartphones and any web-enabled device, including PCs and Macs. Google Voice runs on Androids, iPhones, PCs and Macs and lets you exchange texts through the standard SMS system that’s supported by all U.S. One solution, regardless of what type of phone and computer you use, is to use Google Voice as your text messaging app. This means that messages on both major mobile platforms will be able to exchange high-quality media along with other enhancements such as email receipts, improved group chats and end-to-end encryption. Google announced Thursday that it is replacing outdated SMS (Short Message System) and MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) protocols with RCS (Rich Communication Services), and Apple has agreed to adopt RCS in 2024. Microsoft Phone Link lets you link your PC to your phoneĪpple and Google upgrading texting systemsĪlthough it doesn’t necessarily address the keyboard issue, there is a promising new development when it comes to cross-platform texting. Once it’s installed, you can easily use your Windows PC to write and read texts. For Windows PC users, Microsoft has an app called Phone Link that lets you connect a PC to either an Android or iOS device to send and receive both texts and phone calls. Microsoft Phone Link lets you link your PC to your phone. Here’s advice on How To Send And Receive Texts From An Android Phone On Mac. There are also ways to sync messages from an Android device to a Mac, but typical of Apple, which wants you to stay within its own ecosystem, it’s not super easy. Apple has a help page called “ Set up iPhone to get SMS messages on Mac,” that lists the four simple steps to forward text messages from the iPhone to the Mac. It’s especially easy for those who use both a Mac and an iPhone. There are ways to use either a Mac or a Windows PC to read, send or respond to text messages. But the problem with that strategy is that I sometimes forget to respond, which some people interpret as my being rude.Įspecially easy for users of Mac and iPhone So, when I’m away from my desk or laptop and need to respond to a text or an email, I do the best I can on my phone’s glass “keyboard.” As a way of apologizing or at least explaining the inevitable mistakes, I’ve configured my email program to automatically report “Sent from phone, typos and all.”īecause I don’t like typing on glass, I often postpone responding to non-urgent emails, and sometimes text messages, until I can get back to a PC. You actually can use a Bluetooth keyboard with a smartphone, but I have never done it and have no plans to, because carrying around a bulky keyboard defeats the purpose of a pocketable phone. Because I’m not always near a computer, I do use my phone for texting and email many times a day, but if I have a choice, I’d much rather be using a computer keyboard. Although there are many people (especially younger people) who can easily and quickly type on glass screens - typically using their thumbs - I am still frustrated when I have to type on the screen of an Android phone or iPhone. It’s been 16 years since I wrote that article, but to some extent, it’s still true. In my initial hands-on report, published the next day, I wrote “my very first experiences with the touch screen were frustrating and – five hours later – I still find myself making some mistakes.” I’ve been using a smartphone with an onscreen keyboard since June 29, 2007, the day that Apple released its first iPhone. This post first appeared in the Mercury News
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