Texts or SMSs have now become an integral part of our daily routines, thanks to cellphones. Texts provide a great way to talk to someone or send a message that he/she can read at their convenience. But, not all of us are a fan of cellphones or texts. This is mainly because cellphones cannot provide a very big or easy to use keyboard no matter how big of a screen they have. After all, we can all admit, it’s easier to type on a big keyboard than an on-screen keyboard or a 6 inch screen. There can be other reasons for people not being able to text for example, they might be available on their PCs, their cellphones are on charging, and they might find it hard to text on a small screen.
For people who find it hard to read and reply to an SMS, there is an easy way. There are plenty of apps in the market that will help you read and send text messages from your own PC. This is useful especially for people who don’t like typing at a small screen or find it hard to read on their cellphone or they are mostly available via a PC. You can simply get all your texts on your PC and reply straight from your computer. This is a pretty handy way to solve the problem of texting since you can use your PC and text at the same time.
There are a lot of apps that will help you get your texts on your computer, we will talk about them later. Although it makes it easier to text from your PC and it is very convenient but the process of settings up your browser and cellphone for text-from-PC might require a little bit of work. But, don’t worry, we will guide you through all the steps of settings up these apps through this article.
So, here is a list of top apps that you can use to send and receive text messages from your computer.
MightyText
MightyText is an SMS texting app that is available for your smartphones. Keep in mind that MightyText is only available for Android. So, if you are using iOS then you are out of luck.
MightText is a simple to use app that is designed to be used from your PC. You will have to download the app on your cell phone and use the web application from your browser. The web application is available on almost all major browser that requires no installation.
Setting up MightyText
Here are the steps for getting your MightyText setup for texting from your PC
- Download MightyText on your smartphone. Go here and download the app on your cell phone
- Once installed, open MightyText app
- Select the account that you want to use. You should select the google account that you can sign into from your PC as well.
- Click Complete Setup
- Give the app permissions to access your account
- It will give you a link. Go to that link from your computer. It’s a link to their web application and doesn’t require any installation. Simply copy/paste the link in your browser
- Sign in from your google account. This should be the same account that you used to sign in from your MightyText app
- Allow the app to access your account from your computer as well
- You will see an indicator on the app saying Success. This means that your computer and cell phone have established a connection. Your messages should be synced now.
- Now, you should be able to use the app from your PC. You should see the messages from your cellphone on your computer.
Keep your phone connected to Wi-Fi or internet in order for message to go. Otherwise, your messages will wait for your cellphone to connect to the internet. You can, however, send the messages even if your cell phone isn’t connected to the internet. Your messages will automatically send once you connect your cell phone to the internet.
That’s it. You have setup MightyText for your PC and you can access/read/send messages from your browser. You can click on the Messages section, from the left pane, and browse through your text messages. Simply click the person’s name from the messages section and the conversation will open. Now, you can just simply type the message, send it and MightyText will handle the rest. You can also click on the gear icon (top right corner) from your browser and check the settings. You will find plenty of options including the syncing and notification options. You can change the settings as per your requirements.
There are plenty of other options as well. You can see from the left panel, that you have the option to share photos/files as well. You can also access your contacts etc. You also have the option to get the pro version of MightyText that will unlock a lot more features for this tool.
All in all, it is a pretty handy tool to access your SMS from your computer. It has a free version so you can give it a shot and see if it suits you. Otherwise, there are plenty more apps given in this article.
Official Website: MightyText
Pro Version: $4.99/month ($59.99/year)
Platforms: Android, Windows 8.1/10
AirDroid
Now, let’s talk about the AirDroid. AirDroid is more of a complete file transferring tool than just being a simple SMS from PC tool. You can think of it as more of a really big tool with lots of features that includes an SMS-from-computer feature. Being a complete file sharing tool for your PC and cell phone, it comes at a heavy price when compared to other apps. But, the upside is that you will get a lot of other features as well.
AirDroid comes with a free version as well, so, you can try AirDroid even if you don’t want to spend any money. It has both a web application and a desktop client. So, you can use whichever one suits you best. Just like any other SMS app, this app requires you to perform some simple steps to set it up on your computer. These steps are given below
Setting up AirDroid
- Download AirDroid on your cell phone. Go here and download the app from the Google Play Store.
- Once downloaded and installed, open the app from your phone
- Click Sign in or Sign up and sign in with your account. You can use your Google account but you will have to make an account with AirDroid as well.
- Now, you should be in the Transfer section and the My devices tab should be open. You should be able to see the AirDroid Web with a link. Enter that link in your computer browser
- Sign in through your Browser as well. Use the same account that you used from your cell phone
- Once done, it will automatically connect with your cell phone. Note: If it doesn’t connect then make sure your cell phone is connected to the internet
Once the connection is established, you should be able to see many options on the left and a lot of information about your cell phone on the right side. All of this should be available on your browser.
You can select the Messages from the left and you will be able to see the text conversations from your cell phone. You can simply click the name of the person and it will open that specific conversation. Similarly, you can send the text message from this web app and it will be sent from your cell phone.
There are various other options available in the web browser that you can go through and explore. We won’t go through those options since that is out of the scope of this article.
You also have the option of downloading a desktop client of AirDroid. With the AirDroid desktop client, it will be easier for you to access your files and texts from your PC. Follow the steps given below to get the AirDroid desktop client
- Open your browser and enter the address airdroid.com
- Click on Get AirDroid – Its FREE!
- Select the operating system that you are using and you should be good to go
- Once the file downloads, install the desktop client by following the on-screen instructions
- Open the client once it is installed and sign in with the account.
- You should be able to see multiple options on the left pane. Select messages and you should be able to see the text conversations from your cell phone.
That’s it, your AirDroid is setup and ready to be used from your computer. You can use both the web app and the desktop client, whichever suits you best.
Official Website: AirDroid
Premium Version: $1.99/month ($19.99/year)
Platforms: Android, Windows 8.1/10
Mysms
Mysms is another SMS-from-PC app that you can use to receive/send messages from your computer. It isn’t as well-known as other apps in the list but that doesn’t mean it isn’t useful. The price tag of this app is a lot small when compared to its competitors so it is suitable for people who don’t have a huge budget yet want a full featured app.
It doesn’t come with a lot of features but it does have all the basic features that will let you send and receive messages from the desktop. Mysms also offers browser extensions for some browsers but you will also be able to use it via the web app. The good thing about this app is that it is available for almost all operating systems including iOS and Mac.
Setting up Mysms
Here are the steps for getting and setting up Mysms
- Download the mysms app on your cell phone and install it. Go here to download the android version or go here for iOS
- Open the app and click on Sign in with Google. Sign in using your Google account
- Click Later or Go get it! Depending on whether you want the Premium version or not
- Once done, you should be able to see all your messages on the app. You should receive a new message from mysms. There will be a link inside that message. Open your browser and go to that link. It should be app.mysms.com
- Click Login
- Sign in with your account
Now you should be good to go. You can send text messages from here and change the settings as per your requirements. You won’t be able to see the older conversations because that is available in the premium version. You can judge the app by its free version but its main features will be available only after you get the premium version of the app.
Official Website: MySMS
Premium Version: $9.99/year
Platforms: Android, Windows 8.1/10, iPhone and Tablets.
PushBullet
PushBullet is another app that is designed to help bridge your computer and cell phone. With PushBullet, you can get your cellphone’s notifications, messages, reminders and lots more on your laptop/computer. It offers both a free version and a paid version. The free version, obviously, have a few features unlocked but if you are looking for a way to get text messages on your computer then you are in luck. You can easily use the text message features with free versions. However, there is a limit on the text messages in free version. But, it is more than enough for you to check out the feature and decide whether its something that you will be using or not.
Setting up PushBullet
- In order to use PushBullet, you will have to download the PushBullet app on your cell phone. Go here to download it on Android and go here to get it on Apple.
- Once done, sign in to the PushBullet. Unfortunately, PushBullet doesn’t give an option to create an account. You will have to sign in with either your Facebook account or your Google account.
- Since you want to access the text messages (and other features) on your computer, you will have to get either the PushBullet extension for the browser or get a Desktop client. Anyone will do the job. You can get these from their official website by clicking here. Click Sign in with Google (or Facebook, whatever you want). Make sure you use the same account that used to sign in from your cellphone.
- Click on Apps on their website and click on Windows to download the desktop client. Once the file is downloaded, run the setup and install the desktop client.
- Once the desktop client is installed, run the client and sign in with your account. Again, make sure you sign in with the same account that you have used in previous steps to sign into PushBullet.
- Now you will see an SMS tab on the left side of your desktop client. You will also be able to see the SMS tab on the left side if you tap the button on the top left corner (3 lines) from the PushBullet app on your cell phone. From here, you can access the SMS, send and receive the text messages. You can use the desktop client to send and receive the text messages. But, as you do with other apps, keep your cell phone connected to Wi-Fi in order for this to work.
There are, of course, many other features of PushBullet but our focus was on the text messaging via computer feature. You can browse through other features.
Official Website: PushBullet
Pro Version: $4.99/month ($39.99/year)
Platforms: Android, Windows 8.1/10, iPhone
Conclusion
All in all, there are plenty of options to choose from when it comes to receiving text message on your computer. The apps mentioned above provide more than enough features for a regular user. So, if you are looking for an easy solution to your text messages problem then give these apps a chance.
