Hangouts SMS Retirement
 

Hi guys and gals,

I use Hangouts for SMS regularly with two people. As you may have heard, Google will soon be removing the sms capability for Hangouts (what will be left, I don't know!)

One person has a mobile phone and we can just use regular SMS on our Android phones.

However, the setup my sister and I have is the one I'd like to duplicate with another method but don't know if I can. That's what I need your help with.

I have a mobile phone. I can receive and send Hangouts messages with her wherever. However, she does not have a mobile phone. But, she has Hangouts in her browser in the little window by email, which she uses constantly. So her being on the desktop and using Hangouts has given us the capability to SMS each other for years.

Before we started using Hangouts to keep in touch, we used email. It was bad. I'm bad in not checking my email regularly anymore. I miss a LOT of emails because of this bad habit of not checking in.So her emailing me just won't help us stay regularly in touch.

We also used to use Steam (the gaming app). I have it on my desktop and mobile. I have it on desktop and mobile, and she has it on desktop. However, she logs into it extremely rarely (like me with email). We tried it before but it just didn't work. She didn't want to login just to send me a quick message.

Is there any other platform that she can run in her browser where she can sms me and I can receive it on browser or phone? And not one where there's a fee. Perhaps someone here knows something.

Thanks for any suggestions you can send along.

Note; Please do not suggest Facebook.

One can use Yahoo to send text messages:

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-...oo-to-a-cell-/

I would use free Skype accounts. You can get access on any type of PC, tablet, mobile device, and Xbox One:
https://www.skype.com/en/download-sk...pe-for-mobile/

Bill

I have always liked using Whatsapp (currently in the UK news) and this is available for use on a computer once set up on mobile. It's really smooth and easy!

Telegram.

This article does a really good job breaking down the options:

http://www.computerworld.com/article...gouts-sms.html

Google voice does txt.

Thanks everyone. I'll look at all of these and see which she might like best. It's going to be up to her to decide. Skype is out. It slows down the machine, as does Steam. We've used both before but are not interested in using external programs because of this. But within the browser was very nice. Let me look through your suggestions and I'll try to post back the results. I guess we have until May something before Google snatches it away.

This would be good. Except she'd need a mobile phone. And she doesn't have one. (Otherwise we'd not even need any solution...)

I understand that everyone has their preferences, but why make it hard on yourself? IMHO life is easier not using proprietary messaging apps of some sort that require other people to conform/adapt to your own preferences. Use universal services that nearly everyone has: SMS/MMS and email. I never meet anyone anymore who doesn't have at least one of those, and usually both along with some sort of phone service that will accept calls. OK--some people don't have a mobile phone, and no app is going to work if they don't have some means of accessing the Internet. So then you may have to fall back on the phone and snail mail. But, in my experience email works great for most people who don't have mobile phones. I really don't understand why people have to reinvent these wheels while making life more difficult and complicated. Use the services that almost everyone can access! In the USA your life will be more difficult if you don't have an email address, and you won't be able to sign up for many different services. So, you know people are very likely to have an email address that receives important things like bills, tax notices, etc., so they must check it. I really don't see how you can have an email address and not check it--I have all sorts of critical things that arrive that way and I would lose money, break laws, etc., if I didn't check my email. (OT, but I really enjoy email--gives me space to write something thoughtful if needed, or it can be short and sweet when that is best. I can attach a photo, provide a link, or change the font. Very adaptable to whatever type of communication makes the most sense.)

Hi TenFour. Well the problem is, she doesn't have SMS and I don't read my email much anymore. So the thing that filled that gap was Hangouts. She won't get a cellphone, and I won't be checking my email 10 times a day (or even once a day, or well, usually more) to see if she sent me a message. Heck we'll just call each other on the phone if it's important. But Hangouts allowed her to send me a message from her computer and I'd see it on my mobile right then. Immediately. Or, if I'm in a game for example, I can hear the Hangouts notification behind the game.

I did tell her about Telegram and I think she is amenable to loading that to see if it doesn't slow down her machine if it's running all the time.

With the email thing, I understand. But I've gotten so very bad about checking it. (some people ;) on this forum can confirm this!) Sometimes I don't see personal email for a month. Everyone's different and I don't have anything (afaik) coming only to my email that where if I don't see it, the world will explode. ;) So it becomes easy to ignore it right now in my life.

To each his own. My Android phone has a little light that flashes when a new email arrives, meaning I can just glance at it to know without really any work. But, I do depend on email for many things and monitor two different accounts all the time. Email is more like letter writing--allows for more thoughtful correspondence.

one huge thing I will miss is the hangouts integration into gmail. I am already missing messages there, even though the discontinuation won't happen for a little while in May.

So now, I have a few people on Allo. Which I really don't like. And guess what? Allo must use some proprietary system b/c I don't get all the Allo messages on anywhere except Allo.

Here is a recent test that I did:

I now have tested 4 messenger apps.

hangouts (no allo messages received at all)
pulse (allo messages received, but warns me to dl allo to view images) allo (which I got the LAST image from Allo, but no previous messages or images)
google message (no allo images messages received)

so basically we're starting to devolve further into this mes s

https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/chat_systems.png

I didn't like Edward Snowden's news announcement about Allo. "They are spying on you."

Not that "they" aren't via Hangouts. Or your phone's sms. Or that they aren't listening through your smart tv/Google Home device/Bose headsets...and many other mentionable and unmentionable objects. (if you read recent news you'll understand).

I think I like Telegram. It's private. I wish I could force all my family on it. We never say anything other than personal goofy family stuff, or honey go pick me up some groceries, but still, it's like a peeping Tom at your freaking life window all the time. It's unnerving.

I got some additional info, that explains why it isn't 100% compatible with other sms apps. Basically Allo isn't for SMS, it is a messaging service. They send SMS to your phone, if you don't have Allo... but the primary function isn't to act as something for SMS.

Long story short: there is no way for an SMS app to get those Allo images (those are Allo specific)

(still on the lookout for a hangouts replacement)

Honestly, it doesn't bother me. What i mean is privacy isn't a high selling point for me. My life really isn't all that interesting for me to care if something is 'listening' so to speak :P
I'm mainly interested in whether I enjoy using an app, something that I could be comfortable with. I'm very picky about apps. For example I've gone through at least a dozen apps for email... and I still haven't found one that I absolutely *love* all of them are just kind of 'meh'

I've run into the same thing trying to find an app to replace hangouts. All of the apps seem like cookie-cutter in the gui... I'm starting to think maybe there is some generic sms app code/template that they all use.