Many of them are free but if you want specialized ones, you need to pay extra. You need to download each from Google Play but once you do they are easy to set up. The themes on the GO SMS Pro app are really well designed and integrate well with its interface.

There are some advertisements, but often you need to click on the advertisement-animation feature to see them. You have some excellent features but the best part of this app is the themes and stickers. It really helps you get the most out of those unlimited texting plans. GO SMS Pro is a great all-inclusive texting app. Best of all, the app is free with no ads shoved in your face. It's also great for the creative types who enjoy customization with a bunch of themes and backgrounds available. Mood Messenger is a newer messaging/SMS/MMS app that is perfect for casual users, offering a good spread of nice features from internet messaging apps like animated emojis, location sharing, typing indicator and chat heads. It makes sense then, to download an SMS app to have a better texting experience with improved security, customization, and more. Perhaps you want to ditch Facebook and WhatsApp following the data privacy issues. What's not: The app can feel be a bit clunky and it can be tedious to switch between IM and text messaging.Many of you probably have unlimited texts as part of your data plan but let's face it, they don't get much use with apps such as WhatsApp and Facebook messenger being so popular. What's great: Hangouts comes with several unique features, including the ability to snooze notifications and send your location on a map. You can sign out of your account to only send text messages, but the app is better suited for people who want to send both SMS and instant messages. The only downside is that the app often automatically signs you into your Google account when you open the app, which will show you as 'online' to people using Hangouts on the Web. Hangouts also supports group messaging, video chats, and voice calls, and you can send your location to your friends in a conversation. It's a great choice if you already use Hangouts on the Web. Not to be ignored, Google's video and instant messaging app can also handle your text messages too, and you can switch between chatting over your data connection and sending an SMS message within a thread. Screenshot by Sarah Mitroff/CNET Google Hangoutsįree, installed on most devices by default

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