Pulse SMS applies end-to-end encryption as long as the person you’re messaging is also using Pulse, and for added security you can password protect certain conversations. Chats can be pinned to the top of the interface or organized into folders, and there’s a powerful search feature – if you can’t remember exactly who said what and when, Pulse should help.
There is a lot of flexibility in how you send messages, with scheduled messages, delayed sending and support for automatic replies. You can return to messages later by snoozing them, compose messages faster with templates, and apply themes to your individual conversations. Pulse SMS really has a lot more to it than the basic SMS user experience.
Chomp SMS
Chomp SMS is more basic than Pulse SMS—but for many people, that will be just fine. It focuses on the most important job of an app like this, which is sending and receiving SMS messages, wrapping it all in a no-nonsense interface (if you want to add a little more flair, there are various theme apps available).
That’s not to say there aren’t some neat features included in Chomp SMS. The Quick Reply feature, for example, lets you reply to texts in a pop-up window so you don’t have to leave whatever app you’re currently in. You can lock the app behind a passcode for added privacy, and you can schedule messages to be sent at a specific time and date if needed.
There’s an integrated text backup option here too, but perhaps the best part of Chomp SMS is how you can customize how you receive messages. Individual contacts can be assigned their own ringtones and vibration patterns, so you always know who’s getting in touch without actually looking at your phone screen.
SMS Organizer
SMS Organizer is a “Garage Project” from Microsoft, which means it’s a side hobby for its developers. While it may not have the profile of more official Microsoft apps, SMS Organizer is still regularly updated with new features and has a lot to offer if you need somewhere for your SMS conversations to live on your Android phone.
For example, you can get reminders automatically generated from your text messages—about flights, bills, movie nights, or anything that has details stored in text. You can back up texts, write texts using your voice, and quickly filter your conversation list to see unread messages that need to be addressed first.
We also like the various customization options available here, from the dark theme option to the way you can play with ringtones, notifications and font size. It’s easy to star messages so you can quickly return to them and block spammers from within the app. Everything is wrapped in a neat interface that manages to make even basic text look interesting.
