VoIP.ms SMS

- June 18, 2017

Everyone

Communication

( 244)

Description

VoIP.ms SMS is an Android messaging app for VoIP.ms that seeks to replicate the aesthetic of Android Messages.

# Rationale #

A number of people use VoIP.ms as a cheaper alternative to subscribing to a voice plan for their mobile devices.

Unfortunately, this can make sending text messages rather difficult, as the VoIP.ms SMS Message Center is clearly built as a diagnostic tool for use in desktop browsers, not as an easy way to send and receive messages on a mobile device.

VoIP.ms does provide a mobile version of this interface with an improved UI, but it still lacks important features that are only possible with a dedicated app.

# Features #

• Clean material design aesthetic based on that of Android Messages, Google's standard messaging app for Android
• Push notifications
• Synchronization with device contacts
• Message search
• Comprehensive support for synchronization with VoIP.ms
• Completely free

# License #

This application is open source; it is made available to the public under the Apache License 2.0. You can download the source code from the application's GitHub repository, which is located at https://github.com/michaelkourlas/voipms-sms-client/.

Reviews

4.5

244 total

5 182

4 39

3 8

2 4

1 11

Jeffrey T

Excellent work! Is it difficult to implement? Would be neat if it could be integrated into some of the open source messaging tools like disa.im. Similarly, if it could get some kind of default status as the main sms tool (even if we don't plan to use regular sms).

Ben Holbrook

I've got Push notifications enabled, but I don't get texts pushed to me. Messed up. I've missed a whole bunch of messages because I have to open the app to actually get the notification alerts. What's the point of this app if you have to have the app constantly opened to receive your messages?

Nicolas Charlebois

Best way to send/receive SMS from Voip.ms. Easy to setup, and working really well. I like that the dev is constantly making it better. The only thing I'd like is the possibility to change de color of the LED for the notification of an incoming SMS. Thanks!!

Joshua Hevenor

On my first attempt to log in I set it to fetch a few days of text history. I think it was timing out fetching this and I never got my DIDs loaded. Today and changed to only fetch new and everything went smoothly. Looking forward to using this!

Got the app running works great. Just wondering if I'm missing something? I get a noise and a vibe for notification, and it comes up on my screen quickly for 15 seconds as per settings. I don't get a number on the app like you get on other apps telling me I've an unread message. So I have to open the app when I've been away to see any messages that I have missed. I've set the battery optimizations as well, so I was hoping this would work, but nothing.

Works great with VoIP.ms although it required a reinstall at first for my DID number to show up. It'd be nice if it could be set as the default messages app, but overall it's doing everything I need it to.

User reviews

Jeffrey T July 15, 2017

Michael Kourlas July 25, 2017

I think a disa.im plugin for VoIP.ms might not be a bad idea, but that would probably be its own project. Unfortunately VoIP.ms SMS cannot be set as the default messaging app on Android because it does not support carrier SMS messages.

Ben Holbrook August 20, 2017

Michael Kourlas September 13, 2017

Push notifications work for most people, including me. Have you tried disabling battery optimizations for the app?

Nicolas Charlebois June 27, 2017

Michael Kourlas July 25, 2017

That functionality will be coming in Android O -- if any developer work is required to get it to work I'll worry about it then. Glad you like the app!

Joshua Hevenor September 21, 2017

September 29, 2017

July 22, 2017

Michael Kourlas July 25, 2017

Unfortunately VoIP.ms SMS cannot be set as the default messaging app on Android because it does not support carrier SMS messages.

September 11, 2017

Excellent app. I have no SMS carrier and rely solely on this app to text with all my costumers for my business .it never fails. Absolutely love it,keep up the good work,make sure to donate people!!

Michael Kourlas September 13, 2017

Thanks for your feedback!

Alex Kwiatkowski August 14, 2017

The app now gets messages in realtime, and even supports multiple DIDs, both of which were issues I mentioned in a previous version of this review. I'm very happy this this app now; it can't get much better :) One small thing - when another app wants to send an SMS, it opens the system messenger, not this app :( So I have to manually go to this app when I want to send an SMS. An example of this is Google Maps, which allows you to share your trip progress via SMS. That's a feature I can't use for now because this app doesn't catch the intent from Google Maps.

Michael Kourlas September 13, 2017

This problem has to do with the fact that VoIP.ms is not a "real" SMS app -- it can't send or receive carrier SMS messages, so Android refuses to treat it like an SMS app for intent purposes. Unfortunately there's nothing I can do about that, AFAIK :(

Étienne Clément July 19, 2017

A life saver app for those who rely solely on VoIP. MS for their day to day calls and don't want to purchase carrier SMS plans.

Michael Kourlas July 25, 2017

Glad you like the app!

Patrick Chung July 22, 2017

Very responsive developer. Makes VoIP SMS feature usable as daily driver. Be sure to donate. Android Auto support would be even better. Like to donate more, but do not see a donate button anymore?

Michael Kourlas July 25, 2017

Android Auto support is on my to-do list. There's a donate button in the main menu -- it redirects to PayPal.

Simon Zhang September 5, 2017

If it can support asian languages, it would be much better. Hope you App support unicode, but interface do not have to translate to Asian languages.

Michael Kourlas September 13, 2017

Unicode support has always been a bit iffy, but unfortunately that's VoIP.ms's fault -- there's nothing I can do about it. Sorry :(

Bob Glassford August 4, 2017

Setup was simple, functionality is perfect and I love that the design perfectly mimics the actual Android Messages app. Thank you for keeping this app alive!

Michael Kourlas September 13, 2017

Thanks for your feedback!

Simon Tam October 18, 2017

Worked great in the past but now I'm getting an error: synchronization failed: voip.ms api returned error 'invalid_daterange'. Any ideas?

Jonas June 20, 2017

This works awesome since the most recent update on my note 4! Thanks.

Michael Kourlas July 25, 2017

Glad you like the app!

Ivan Luo June 29, 2017

It is as easy to use as the phone message. Thank you!

Michael Kourlas July 25, 2017

Glad you like the app!

Arnie Weber August 30, 2017

Works great!

Michael Kourlas September 13, 2017

Thanks for your feedback!

Jean-Alexandre Beaudet June 14, 2017

Works wonders on my OnePlus 3! Had to do the Battery Optimization trick (set to not optimize) for notifications to work correctly with the new update.

Michael Kourlas June 18, 2017

Glad you like the app!

Curtis Fast June 15, 2017

Very pleased that I can now send & receive long messages that will be automatically split into multiple SMS texts.

Michael Kourlas June 18, 2017

Glad you like the app!

Kristopher Kolpin June 15, 2017

App works amazingly! Recent updates from v0.50 and up have really made it more fluid and less buggy.

Michael Kourlas June 18, 2017

Glad you like the app!

Charles Demers June 12, 2017

Awesome! Only issue so far is notifications don't always seem to work. I have to open the app to make sure I didn't miss anything. Everything else is just awesomeness. Edit: Make sure to disable "battery optimization" if you have issues with notifications. Seemed to fix it right up for me.

Michael Kourlas June 12, 2017

Glad to hear the battery optimization trick works -- I'll recommend it to others.

Morgan Lim June 12, 2017

App has improved a lot, and dev is very responsive and helpful, even adding commonly requested features. If you have a low end device (like me, <= 1GB RAM) I would recommend setting up email for notifications, as the push notifications in this app don't actually contain the messages, but just indicate to the app that it's time to sync with the server - so if the app cannot start for whatever reason, no notification comes through. Despite small problems, this app is still the best option for sending SMS through voip.ms, and it's completely free!

Michael Kourlas June 12, 2017

I've tried to improve performance of push notifications by implementing a wake lock for the synchronization process -- hopefully correctly this time! You might try turning off battery optimizations as well, which is what another reviewer suggested. Glad you like the app!

Janvier Doyon June 11, 2017

This app is just incredible. With the voip.ms service, you can use this app to send and receive SMS messages the same way you would do so with a regular cell phone company. The app is always updated and the developer answers support requests really quickly.

Michael Kourlas June 12, 2017

Glad you like the app!

Giuliano Liker June 13, 2017

Fantastic app!

Michael Kourlas June 18, 2017

Glad you like the app!

Deniz Okten June 13, 2017

You rock! Where do I donate?

Michael Kourlas June 18, 2017

You can donate using PayPal -- here's a link: paypal.me/kourlas

David R June 11, 2017

Great update!

Michael Kourlas February 5, 2017

This has to do with a timeout issue; I'll be adding the ability to configure the timeout in a future release.

June 12, 2017

Great app

Michael Kourlas June 18, 2017

Glad you like the app!

Jason Agouris June 12, 2017

Does what it says, nice. UPDATE : Michael's updates continue to make this an even far more worthy app, especially now with multiple DIDs! Nice work Michael, thanks for sticking with this. Upped my rating.

Michael Kourlas September 15, 2016

That's a popular feature request, but one that is impossible to implement without turning VoIP.ms into a fully fledged SMS app that can send and receive carrier SMSes. That's the only way Android will let an app respond to SMS requests from other apps. I've added some performance improvements in the latest release. Thanks for the feedback!

Regan Walsh June 12, 2017

Great app. I'd love it if it had Android Auto support.

Michael Kourlas June 12, 2017

There's an issue open for that on GitHub. Glad you like the app!

Joel Blain November 24, 2016

Almost perfect but... I changed for 5star, Micheal is really kind to help us with his app*** update, emoji works fine, was swiftkey keyboard that i needed to fix, using dedicated icon instead of using the enter key *** Can receive emojis from sms but can't send them, the emoji tab don't show up with my Samsung edge s7. Sometime I got duplicate sms, don't know why. But this app is far better than using the sms portal from Voip.ms. If mms were working, I would pay any cost for this.

Michael Kourlas November 22, 2016

Unfortunately VoIP.ms doesn't support MMS; there's nothing I can do.

Mike February 5, 2017

Works great. Only thing I wish it did was display a message on the lock screen telling me that I have a message and what the message is. As it is now I just get a sound or vibration. Sometimes I don't notice I have a message. Thanks for making this! Reply to Dev. All my othet apps pop up on the lock screen, and i have all notifications enabed for this app.

Michael Kourlas June 11, 2017

Try updating to 0.5.0 -- the app uses a new push notifications system that might be more reliable.

Jonathan Houghton May 29, 2017

Good app that allows me to use Voip.ms SMS easily. But I have problems receiving texts at times. Some texts don't come through at all and others are cut off after about 100 characters. Not sure if it is a VoIP.ms problem or a problem with the application

Michael Kourlas June 11, 2017

Unfortunately, that sounds like a VoIP.ms issue, though you might try the 0.5.0 release that just came out to see if the problem is fixed. Glad you like the app!

Chris Kadet December 14, 2016

Great app.! Thanks for the effort of making VoIP.ms testing easier. With that said, sometimes texts won't send if I move around the city, I guess because the IP has changed. Is there a way to avoid this?

Michael Kourlas February 5, 2017

You should just use '0.0.0.0' as the allowed IP in the VoIP.ms API settings.

Dmitry Polyakov June 17, 2017

Almost excellent! But messages stuck from time to time. Also some time the app stuck from notification message call, when i try to open message from notification directly. Also may I know the purpose of file access permission in a new version? Thx.

Michael Kourlas June 18, 2017

Try updating to a newer version -- it might fix those problems. The external storage permission is needed to set and display ringtones on external storage, as well as to import and export the database.

andrewson tonkin March 29, 2017

Is it possible to make this app or another version work with our own sms server? Just curious when the next update is coming out? Messages that are already delivered are giving errors.

Michael Kourlas June 11, 2017

Realistically, that's not possible without recompiling the app from source and setting up your own Firebase account. The problem you describe is a known issue with the VoIP.ms API -- it's just too slow to respond, and so the app thinks the request failed. The 0.5.0 release -- which just came out -- lets you configure the timeouts, which may help.

Louis-Philippe Bellerose March 16, 2017

Great app! Works like a charm! You should also automatically activate the auto call back in the url callback option. It should resolve the problem of receiving messages when not connected.

Michael Kourlas June 11, 2017

That shouldn't matter, actually -- the server is always online and FCM should take care of auto-delivering messages to offline devices. Glad you like the app!

Jonagh January 6, 2017

Exactly the thing that Voip.ms was missing. Voip.ms should promote this app on their site (I didn't know about it until recently). One request: I have two DIDs (phone numbers), if there was some way for me to send (and receive, without forwarding) from both that would make this app 5 stars! Thanks.

Michael Kourlas February 5, 2017

That's on my to-do list.

February 10, 2017

Best-looking. Push notifications mostly working but wish it could be better. When it works, incoming text will wake phone, turning the screen on momentarily with audio cue and phone vibration. NextPlus as fast as 2 seconds, Freedom Mobile: 20 seconds. Other times wait 1 minute, even 8 minutes, nothing. Yet I can open home screen, wait 40 seconds and notification suddenly arrives. Concerned about not so much fear of missing out so much as wasting time and money because a meeting location changed and I didn't get the text in time. Not consistent enough for me. Might be voip.ms beta SMS network problem, not app's fault. Leaving voip.ms service for now to switch to Fongo, its app can wake my phone within 5 seconds, every time. But if using voip.ms, I recommend voip.ms SMS.

Michael Kourlas June 11, 2017

I suspect these issues have more to do with VoIP.ms than the app, but you might try updating to the 0.5.0 release to see if there's any improvement.

carloleroux October 4, 2016

The apps that made it possible to switch to voip.ms Since update to firebase sms come in a lot quicker than they used to. Great job on that. Only don't side to sms via voip.ms is that we cant send mms. Keep coming the great work

Michael Kourlas October 4, 2016

Thanks for the positive feedback! Hopefully VoIP.ms will support MMS at some point, but seeing as the SMS feature itself is still in beta I don't think it'll happen anytime soon. :(

Leon J October 25, 2016

This app is a must-have for anyone replacing a normal cellphone plan with VoIP.ms. The only room for improvement I see is limited by VoIP.ms, unfortunately (MMS and short code support, default-SMS setting in Android). The developer was quick to respond to the only issue I've had using this app.

Michael Kourlas November 22, 2016

Thanks for the positive feedback!

Adam Tuck January 17, 2017

Makes data only possible..... Thanks to the developer for all their hard work on this app. If you are considering switching to data only, this app (& voip.ms service) makes it possible. The only improvements I can suggest are to: add a function to group several texts together, and add a longer timeout for the API response. Other than that it is perfect.

Michael Kourlas February 5, 2017

Both suggestions are on my to-do list.