Newsletter
SMS may not be nearly as popular as it used to be, but many people still use it. It’s still quite essential in a number of ways, and there’s a reason why it survived for so long. In some regions, it’s used more than in others, but many people still use it. If you’re using SMS often, chances are you want a really good app to provide you with everything you need. Well, that’s why we’re here.
Down below, you’ll find a list of 10 apps, 10 best SMS apps, to be exact. Do note that these are only our pics, as there are tons of great SMS apps available in the Play Store (do note that they’re not all replacement for your SMS app, though). If you’re one to use SMS more than an instant messaging app, then you’re in the right place. Well, Google Messages serves as both, thanks to RCS, but that’s a whole different story. In any case, you’ll find quite a bit of information about each of the apps we’ve listed, so read on if you’re interested.
Best SMS Android apps 2023 downloads
Below is a little more information on each app, and a direct link for easy downloading.
All download links go to the app’s Google Play Store listing. Users are always recommended to download apps from Google Play or an authorized app store.
Messages by Google
– Price: Free to download
– In-app purchases: No
– Size: Varies with device
– Google Play rating: 4.4 out of 5 stars
As many of you know, Google has its own SMS app, and it’s called Messages by Google. This is probably the best choice for all users for one simple reason, it’s quite straightforward and easy to use. It’s not packed with unnecessary features or anything of the sort. On top of that, it looks really nice as well, in line with other Google-made products. That being said, Messages by Google is much more than a simple SMS app.
This application also serves as your RCS tool. RCS is expected to completely replace SMS at some point, and you can get a taste of it thanks to this app. It enables this app to functions similarly to iMessage, in a way. Once you enable RCS, the app will let you know if it’s sending a message in form of an SMS message, or an instant message via the web. That’s basically what RCS enables. If the contact you’re sending a message to has RCS enabled as well, he’s going to be able to receive images, videos, GIFs, etc, all via the Internet.
Textra SMS
– Price: Free to download
– In-app purchases: $6.49
– Size: Varies with device
– Google Play rating: 4.3 out of 5 stars
Textra is one of the best-looking SMS apps for Android, and one of the most feature-rich ones. This app also performs really well, and it offers tons of customization options for you. You can choose from various different themes, and fine-tune them as well. You can, for example, choose different bubble styles and colors, which is not something many SMS applications enable you to do.
If you want, you can also stop SMS messages as the app is sending them, while the slide-to-delete option is also included, and the same goes for the slide-to-call option. The quick reply SMS popup is also an option here, while there are 21 text sizes you can choose from. Various font options are at your disposal, and the same goes for the message blocker. You can pin your conversations to the top of the list, and much more.
chomp SMS
– Price: Free to download
– In-app purchases: $6.49
– Size: Varies with device
– Google Play rating: 4.3 out of 5 stars
chomp SMS has been an extremely popular app for Android for quite some time now. The best of all, the app did not deteriorate with time, it only got better. It’s now one of the best-looking SMS apps for Android, mainly due to its simplicity. The app’s design is quite simple, and yet it seems refined. Delicious, the developer behind the app, did not complicate things unnecessarily here.
It does look quite simple, and yet it offers you a lot of customizability options. You can customize the screen color, font style, text size, and even the background wallpaper. The app allows you to pin your favorite conversations to the top, while you can also backup your SMS messages from within the app. The SMS blocker option is included, and the app even allows you to use signatures. We’ve only scratched the surface here.
Pulse SMS
– Price: Free to download
– In-app purchases: $0.99-$99.99
– Size: Varies with device
– Google Play rating: 4.1 out of 5 stars
If you send a lot of SMS messages while you’re sitting at your desk, working, why not do it from your desktop computer? Well, Pulse SMS is not the only app that enables this, but it does offer a great experience while you do it. That’s not the only feature this app offers, not even close. There’s quite a long list of them, and we’ll mention some. First and foremost, this is one of the best-looking SMS apps out there.
The animations are extremely fluid, and it’s just an enjoyable experience overall. There are some customization options here, while you can password-protect private conversations. Automatic message backup and restore is possible with a Pulse account, while you can blacklist spammers with ease. The app does come with dual SIM support, while it also supports delayed sending.
Handcent Next SMS
– Price: Free to download
– In-app purchases: $0.49-$39.99
– Size: Varies with device
– Google Play rating: 4.6 out of 5 stars
Handcent has been around for a long, long time. The app’s latest big iteration brought some much-needed design changes, and it actually looks really sleek now. This app is excellent for theming, as it offers tons of options. You can change the colors, bubble styles, fonts, and much more. It’s possible to can change the look of this app to the extreme, and that’s not an exaggeration at all.
You can set ringtones for specific notifications, while the app allows you to change LED colors, and vibration patterns as well. There are tons of stickers and emojis at your disposal, while the app comes with full Wear OS support. Handcent also allows you to text from your desktop computer, if that’s a feature that you need Free cloud backup is included, and much much more.
GO SMS Pro
– Price: Free to download
– In-app purchases: $0.99-$200
– Size: Varies with device
– Google Play rating: 4.4 out of 5 stars
Go SMS Pro is yet another app which allows for extreme customization options. This is also one of the most popular third-party SMS apps. In fact, GO SMS Pro can be a bit overwhelming if you’re not interested in fine-tuning your experience, that’s how many features it has. You can alter the look of your conversations to the max, as shown in an image above. The app does support dual SIM devices as well.
You can ‘sticky’ conversations, which essentially means you can pin them. There’s a private box for encrypting messages, while delayed sending is also supported SMS blocker feature is supported for pesky spammers, and the app also has a pop up menu for new messages, and you can customize it. These are only some features this app offers. The app is free to use, but there are tons of in-app purchases you can access.
Mood Messenger
– Price: Free to download
– In-app purchases: $0.99-$14.99
– Size: Varies with device
– Google Play rating: 4.4 out of 5 stars
If you love using emojis, Mood Messenger is an app you should try. There are tons of animated emojis available here, iOS, Android or Emoji One style emojis. That is not this app’s main feature, though, of course. This app also offers that simple, clean design that people seem to love. It does come with a dark mode as well, as does pretty much every app on this list… well, the vast majority of them.
Mood Messenger does offer you an option of changing fonts and text size, while you can choose between 100 different themes. Changing backgrounds is also an option here, while you can alter bubble shapes and colors too. If you love having full control over notification options, you’re in luck. Mood Messenger allows for customizing LED colors, sounds, vibration, and much more.
YAATA
– Price: Free to download
– In-app purchases: $1-$100
– Size: Varies with device
– Google Play rating: 4.2 out of 5 stars
If you’re looking for a really simple, and yet reliable app, that won’t bother with tons of features you won’t use… well, YAATA is a good option. This app may not be as popular as other options on the list, but it sure is good. Also, it does offer quite a few features, but it doesn’t go overboard. You can choose between three quick reply styles here, and set custom vibrations as well.
Notification-related customization options are also available, such as ringtones, LED notification light controls, and so on. You can also change swipe actions in the notification shade, if the default ones don’t work for you. The app’s layout is really nice as well, and you can choose between light and dark variants. A Premium subscription does bring quite a few additional features to the table, if that’s something you need.
Auto Text
– Price: Free to download
– In-app purchases: $1.99-$64.99
– Size: Varies with device
– Google Play rating: 3.9 out of 5 stars
Auto Text is not exactly a replacement for your default SMS app. This is an app that enriches your SMS experience, though, an app that you can use in addition to your general SMS application. So, what does this app do, exactly? Well, it allows you to schedule your SMS messages. You can schedule it to go at a specific time, so that you don’t have to do it manually. This is a very useful feature for some, and very few apps offer it.
In addition to that, the app can auto-reply to a call, SMS, WhatsApp message, and more. You can even set recurring SMS options, if you want. One message can even be scheduled to go out to multiple recipients. All in all, it has proven to be a very useful app to me, at times, and if you need features such as these, the app works really well. The design is also really simple, by the way, which is a good thing.
Super Backup & Restore
– Price: Free to download
– In-app purchases: $1.99
– Size: Varies with device
– Google Play rating: 4.2 out of 5 stars
Many of us have tons of SMS messages on our phones, and don’t want to lose them. Well, there’s a way to avoid that, as the Super Backup & Restore app will make sure of it. This is a very powerful app for backing up and restoring your SMS messages, but not only that. It can backup and restore your contacts, apps, call logs, calendars, and pictures. It can be especially useful when you’re switching phones.
This app has been available in the Play Store for quite some time. It has been quite reliable for me personally, I never had any issues with it. I only use it when I’m switching phones, which is quite often, granted, but it never failed, not once. The app’s design is also really simple, which is something many of you will appreciate.