The Best SMS Text Messaging Apps for Android

Pulse SMS applies end-to-end encryption as long as the person you’re texting is also using Pulse, and for extra 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 here too – if you can’t remember exactly who said what and when, Pulse should be able to help.

There’s plenty of flexibility in how you send messages, with scheduled messages, delayed sending, and auto-reply support. You can come back to messages later by putting them on hold, compose messages faster with templates, and apply themes to your individual chats. Pulse SMS really offers a lot on top of the basic SMS user experience.

Chomp SMS

Chomp SMS is easier than Pulse SMS – but for many people that will be perfectly fine. It focuses on the most important job of an app like this, which is sending and receiving SMS messages, and wraps it all up in a no-nonsense interface (if you want to add a bit more flair, there’s a variety of app themes available).

That’s not to say that Chomp SMS doesn’t come with some handy features. For example, the quick reply feature lets you reply to texts in a pop-up overlay so you don’t have to leave the app you’re in. You can lock the app behind a passcode for extra privacy, and you can schedule messages to be sent at a specific time and date when needed.

Again, there’s a built-in text backup option, but perhaps the best thing about Chomp SMS is how you can customize the way you receive messages. Each individual contact can be assigned their own ringtone and vibration pattern, so you’ll always know who’s calling without having to look at your phone screen.

SMS organizer

SMS Organizer is a “garage project” by Microsoft, which means it’s something of a side hobby for its developers. While it may not have the profile of the more official Microsoft apps, SMS Organizer is still regularly updated with new features and has a lot to offer if you need a place for your SMS conversations to take place on your Android phone.

For example, you can automatically generate reminders from your SMS messages – about flights, bills, cinema trips or anything where details are stored in a text. You can save texts, write texts with 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 around with ringtones, notifications, and font size. It’s easy to flag messages for quick reference and block spammers in the app. It’s all packed into a clean interface that manages to make even plain text look interesting.