Textra is an alternative to your stock SMS/MMS app (that came preinstalled on your phone). So, whether you’re looking for a faster experience, better customization options, more color or just a specific feature (like scheduling a text in the future) you’ve come to the right place.
Feature rich, notably 180+ material design theme, bubble & app icon colors. Light, dark, black, night & android screen modes, multiple bubble styles, scheduled (future) SMS & MMS, send delay, slide to delete, slide to call, quick snap camera, multi-select picture gallery, quick reply SMS popup, awesome MMS GROUP messaging, quick voice memos, endless GIFs, 21 text sizes, multiple font options, message blocker / blocklisting, pin-to-top, automatic video & picture compression, support for iOS reactions, iOS emojis & heaps more!
Customize your preferred theme & bubble colors, signatures and notifications (icon shape, sound, privacy, reminders, and muting) per conversation as well.
Get all the latest Android, Twitter, JoyPixels & iOS style emojis including diversity (skin tone). Just pick your preferred emoji style and express yourself!
NEW: Added support for Reactions (also known as Tapbacks) received from iOS Apple devices. So, for example instead of seeing an incoming message saying: Loved “See you at 9pm”, you’ll now see a love heart emoji superimposed on the message you sent. Just like on iOS devices, Facebook Messenger etc. You can also send reactions!
NEW: Copy Partial Text tap a bubble to check out this great new feature that allows you to copy any part of the text in a bubble!
It’s pretty special; try it, tell your friends, shout from the treetops, but most of all enjoy it.
Fully compatible with Pushbullet, MightyText, Android Wear and Android Auto (car) for enhanced notifications and quick reply.
All Textra features are free forever. Occasionally you’ll see an ad, or you can choose to make a once only in-app purchase to remove ads forever.
Support, Knowledge Base & Feedback @ https://textra.uservoice.com
Simple. Beautiful. Fast.
I’ve been using this app for many years now, and I really do enjoy it (obviously). However, I can only give it 4☆ for one main reason: when I block a number/email (usually spam) and haven’t opened the message, I still get a notification for the unread message. It’s really annoying. I feel like if I go through the process of blacklisting a contact, any unread messages by them should automatically be marked as read so as to not trigger the notifications. Otherwise, I ♡ this app. It’s my default.
I’ve had this app for several years now, and it is awesome! Super customizable, down to the bubble colors in individual conversations! I particularly like that up to four profile images will show up in the bubble at the left side of each thread, so it’s super easy to see which contacts are in each one. Recently, the app started crashing super bad, and upon contacting the company, I got a response within the hour! And the workaround they had worked like a charm! Awesome people, awesome app!
I’ve used this app exclusively for a few years now and I’m mostly happy with it. Recent update made it start making a hyperlink for days of the week anytime I say something about the weekend, like it wants to create a calendar event. It’s incredibly annoying and there seems to be no option to turn it off. Super annoying and needs to be addressed. Web preview is off, so that is not the issue.
Textra is awesome! I absolutely love all the customization that is available for contacts and groups. Two things I wish it had: the ability to archive a message thread, and the ability to save settings! When I switched phones, I lost all my custom colors for everyone. I was sad, but not sad enough to stop using it or take away a star. That’s how awesome this app is. Love love love it!
*edit 12-29**app is basically useless. I have used this for several years, and now it is in a state of CONSTANT crashing. What’s with it? All of a sudden, it’s buggy and crashing. Also, when i try to attach a pic, it doesn’t attach and places a *!* instead. It also has not been playing “new text” notification sounds for quite some time.
Was good until recently. Recently the app has become unstable. Will reset while attempting to text. Screen goes white with the icon in the middle and kicks you out. Does it several times before you can read or send a text. Loved it until now. Had to finally delete the app. Just kept resetting back to my home screen every time I tried to open it.
I used this app for years and really liked the feature set, but recently noticed, over the past week or so, people weren’t receiving a lot of my SMS text messages sent via Textra, even in the same room on the same network. I spent about an hour on the phone with AT&T technical support and it was discovered that the issue was the Textra app. I uninstalled and reinstalled it, but it still wouldn’t work correctly. Everything works fine through the native SMS app, so I guess I’m done with Textra.
Generally a solid app. For the past few months, though, certain text messages won’t pop a notification. I’ve confirmed it’s not device settings or the apps as the notifications work when the Messages app is the default. If I switch back to Textra, the notifications aren’t fired. On edit: I deleted blocked phone numbers in my area code, and one of them was the culprit. What made this hard to figure out was the short code number in the text didn’t match the phone numbers in the block list.
I like textura overall. I’d say my favorite part is the customization and the general interface. It allows me to be more productive than my previous texting app overall. I was only let down by the implementation of a couple ads (well one tiny, not too bothersome ad at least), and I expected a better desktop compatibility option… As of now I’m still using Microsoft’s lackluster Windows Phone Link to text on my computer and as always hoping people use WhatsApp! Cheers!
Almost Perfect This app is feature rich without being bloated which is hard to do. Support is responsive. Design is thoughtful and customizable without being complex. My only gripe is the notifications not using what I set in Android. My understanding is you used to be able to set the notification in the app, but Android updated to make that not work anymore. The app doesn’t use your default notification anyway, so it is locked to an annoying long buzz. It’s more annoying than I expected lol
It’s a very good app. One problem: Although regular messages from friends can have an emoji response, pictures sent from them cannot. You cannot “happy face” or “thumbs up” or even do a quick reply on sent photos. Also, if I get 20 messages from a friend of group of friends, Textra sends me to the bottom of the list of messages. It would be best if they started me from the top of the list of new messages.
I used to love this app. Now when I’m trying to send a picture as an attachment to a text I don’t get to see all my contacts to pick from. So now I have to go into create a text message and then add the picture. Which is a waste of time. The most important part for me from this app is I can use the 9 second delay. But I’m not liking the way the contacts are not coming up when they should when trying to send something. In addition that new keep feature I think that’s so stupid.
The app has been very unstable lately. I have emailed the help email for Textra. Some folks on Reddit seem to be experiencing the same issues. Random contacts cannot send of receive MMS. No photos, videos, or gifs. Only some random contacts though, no matter apple or android. Prior to this the app was just crashing 4 or more times in a row every time a new message came through. Tried restarting and resyncing with no luck. This is the stuff that made me switch to Textra, now it’s the same.
So far, I’m loving the experience with this app. I love the customization and the possibilities given. The only downside I’ve noticed so far, is being unable to customize the background for each chat. I’ve never had the options to change the text bubbles (color or style), or a majority of anything. But the background was always something I could do. Having that feature missing actually makes me sad as I got used to it over the years. Maybe in a next update? Either way, love this app so far!
I’ve been using this app for a few years now and it’s really a great app. It does have ads but they can be set at the bottom of your screen (though sometimes they appear in the middle of your list of conversations) but love the customizable features, the ability to send an emoji response to messages, and their customer service is quick to answer questions. Highly recommend.
definitely an improvement over the stock messaging app that came with my phone. I have been using this app for multiple years now, and continue to stick with it. It has everything I need, and it is very customizable. I used to have issues sending pictures and long texts, although that was a couple phones ago. Those issues were why I tried Textra in the first place and I just really enjoy the layout and organization. 12/1/22: still my go-to messaging app! Love the updates and features.
I love Textra. Been using it for years. Found it while looking to replace the stock app. It’s just what I was looking for. Paid for it within a week and was never sorry I did. Lots of configuration choices while still being simple and clean. It just works. Came across an unexpected issue and they were totally there working thru it to a resolution. Awesome.
I’ve been using this app for about 4 years now and it freaking ROCKS! Minimal ads that don’t pop up to block your screen, they are small and only appear at the top, so they’re VERY easy to ignore. You can set your messages to send with up to a 9 sec delay, in case you change your mind, it automatically blocks spam text messages from both phone numbers & email addresses, has a feature where you can schedule a text to be sent at set date & time. Also you can set group replies to come to you only.
It is a great app. I like the delay feature. There is however a key feature that is missing in my opinion: once a group of contacts is created, it can no longer be edited. In other words, I cannot add or remove a contact from it once text conversations have begun. It would be great if the developers would look into adding this feature in a future update.
I have used Textra for years and it is the best. Most importantly, if you have any issues with Textra the support is better than any other app I use. I have only had to contact them once or twice in all of those years and they respond immediately. Recently, I had an issue that I thought was with Textra but after a lot of troubleshooting, we discovered it was with my phone and not Textra. You will not be disappointed with Textra!
I’ve used this app for years and it just keeps getting better and better! The only issue I currently have is the underlined date/time text – it used to work on my app so I could schedule appointments and events, but not I only get the “copy” and “share” options. It was really helpful for me because I always forget about events, I hope to see it fixed soon!!
Years after my last review, and using a new phone, this is still my go-to messaging app. It’s a solid app, is regularly updated, backs up messages directly to the Android message store, has an optional send delay, can send messages from a notification, allows you to customize the background, foreground, text bubbles, even the app icon. If you’re one of those people whose default messenger doesn’t let you send you send full-sized images, Textra is the only one I’ve found that lets me do this.
This has been my favorite texting app for years! Past few days when I try to send a picture, after I select it, it goes into the text thread, but then quickly disappears and turns into an explanation point. Please get this fixed…I switched to the Samsung messaging app in the meanwhile, which hardly compares to Textra when it’s working properly.
I can’t recall hw I stumbled across Textra. All I know is once I started using it, I couldn’t see any reason to look elsewhere. It had great options and customization, and just got better and better. Love the new “Keep” feature – – ***very smart and handy!! *** They seem to keep working on making this better and better. Since I do a lot of texting (prefer that over emailing), I would love to see their own backup program built into the app where even selecting the txts (or contact/date range) pos
Allows customization of contacts and conversations Unfortunately with the latest update and bug fix, it has become more of a hassle to share pictures from the phones gallery. After using this app for a number of years, it may be time to set another messaging app as my default. Having to go through a couple of more steps in order to share a picture is more of an inconvenience than what I’m looking for in a messaging app.
When the pre-embedded texting app on my Google pixel kept malfunctioning, I went ahead and paid for Textra. It has never malfunctioned. I guess it’s the little things, right? I would think that all of the preloaded apps on a phone should work seamlessly, but I guess not with Google. very pleased to have something that works as it should. Worth the small expenditure to have a texting app I can count on.
Update: I’m now about 2 years in. This app is consistently updated with useful features. The most recent is a feature that keeps personal notes just like a text you might send but using ‘keep’ as the destination, it will just keep it local like a text -without sending it anywhere remote. Older: I’ve been using Textra for several months now and am perfectly satisfied with the look, process, and options. I especially like scheduling a text to send later. Use the info text bot to learn tips.
The best texting app but a bit glitchy lately. The ability to click links disappears intermittently, there is no consistent fix for this. I keep getting “textra isn’t responding” popups while the app is functioning fine. The developers are great & go out of their way to help w/ troubleshooting. I’ll update the rating when there’s a fix for the links not working. Things that don’t fix it: “reset permissions”, restarting phone, clear cache, update “system WebView”, force stop, un/reinstall, etc.
Missing some features that would be really helpful like searching inside an individual conversation, the ability to archive (not permanent delete) texts, long press time limit, etc. Mostly things you see on other apps but for some reason Textra doesn’t have them. Otherwise I stick with it because the ability to customize the look is great.
Have always enjoyed using this app but for the last several weeks the app crashes constantly to the point that I almost can’t send any messages at all. Most of the time as soon as I open the app to send a message it closes immediately. The phone says there’s an issue with the app and I should contact the developer. Going to have to delete it and use something else if this continues.
Update 3: resync and removing battery restrictions seems to have worked. Wish dev had suggested that instead of blaming my carrier. Update 2: sent support email, but no response yet. I see another review with the same issue I have, but we have different carriers. Both our issues started around the same time. After an update. So which is more likely the issue? Dropped another star for being dismissive. Update: I can no longer send images through the app. That’s a deal breaker.
I just found Textra and I’m really liking this app and the features!🙂 So, here’s the problem. I have it on my phone (Galaxy S22), but it’s not available for my tablet (Galaxy S7 FE). It would be great if I could sync my messages to my tablet so I’m not using so many electronics at once. PLEEEASE don’t make me have to search for another sms app😥. It’s hard trying to find a messaging app.
Pretty great text app! It can be a little buggy. For example, the dot notification is supposed to be green but it defaults to blue, no matter what settings I move around or play with, it’s always a blue notification dot. I wish Textra would fixed this issue. Other than that gripe, Textra is probably the best text app in the Google Play store. 👍
I have been using this app for a few years now. I love the customization and the easy use of it. It does all that I need it to and more. It has worked really great up until the Android 13 update on my s21 ultra. It now keeps crashing, saying it has a bug and to wait for the developer to update the app. I hope that this issue is being addressed because I really have gotten attached to this messaging app. For now I had to switch back to the stock messaging app on my phone. 🤞 Please fix! 🙏
THE best! Easy to use. All the functions I need or want. Updated regularly with all the best improvements. TextraBot tells me so ! I’ve been a loyal Textra user for a while (more than 2 years). I’ve supported the developers by getting the ad-free version and I’ve never had any regrets. They do a great job! I’ve installed on every phone. (Samsung) It’s so much better than the factory message app! I especially love the ability to schedule the messages!
I have been a Pro user for years and experienced several bugs, but the latest is not only annoying but resulted in the loss of 2 important Recorded Messages that I needed to save for a business legal/reasons! This occurred after I turned on Stagefright option to protect video content, although I have yet to receive any. However after activation, RMs disappeared although there is a black/blank space on screen of ongoing chain of communications with this contact. A major issue needing attention!
I’ve been using textra for years and love it. The personalization is beyond compare: colors, conversation icons and colors. There have been some hiccups along the way, and I have tried to like other texting apps; I just keep coming back to this app. it has the options and functionality I like. Can’t go wrong.
I like this app mostly because it adds an “OH No!” feature. Has helped me out numerous times. I’m referring to the delay option of sending, which is set from 1 – 10 seconds, by the user. It also has the more typical functions, including scheduling, again another often used feature for me. The technical support , which I had occasion to use late last night (via ‘contact developer’ email option at 10:30 pm EST) was answered w/i 20 minutes!!!!! Mandy provided the solution for my question.
This app is great. especially the individual contact to be able to recover old messages and media .. if deleted by accident .. bubbles . colors . and able too set individual ringtones .. and notification. the phone access in is great. only thing . . I would like messages and media access to deleted one . and to be able to restore . if deleted by accident.
It’s unique and has many options and features, which will get confusing, especially for beginners. I like to see unread messages in BOLD and a way to mark read messages as unread. Their email support response time is quick, and the answers are improving. The 1-time purchase price for the pro version is pretty fair.