App review: Textra

Over the course of years I was able to try different sorts of alternative for the native sms/mms messaging android app. Clearly at some point I am discontent with the native app and here are some of the reasons why:

1. Ugly

Honestly, I think alot of us think that the native sms app is ugly. I think it really is ugly. Though it packs the most basic and essential features, it lacks basic customizations such as color changes of the conversation bubbles as well as a popup tool for easy reading and reply composition.

2. Slow

Now I believe that everyone notices this one. Every now and then when you open your sms through your native sms app you have to wait for awhile for it to load. Some users are also experiencing auto close behaviors. Other users will say that you have to delete some or all of your messages so that the native app will not take ages to load but not everyone wants to delete their messages, right?




And then, weeks ago I finally hit a gold mine when I found out about Textra. Before that I also tried Handcent SMS, Chomp SMS and Hello SMS. So what separates Textra from the rest? Here are the reasons:

1. It really is a substitute to the Native SMS app.

Other SMS apps also feature free sms through wi-fi or if you buy credits from them. That feature is absent in Textra but honestly, I don't care at all. All I need is an app which can dethrone my native sms app and no more, no less.

2. Customizations

There are alot of customizations in Textra. The default state is having a white background but if you want to let your juice run up a little more then you can choose to use night mode which is also pretty nice. Other customizations include bubble colors as well as signatures.

Default Textra appearance

Textra in night mode

3. Fast

Why change your native sms app to a new one if it does not have this feature? Well Textra is really fast. I have no doubt about that. I have tried comparing my native sms app vs. Textra during loading and Textra consistently pops-up almost right away while I have to wait for my native sms app to load for at least five seconds.




4. Other features

MMS

An MMS in Textra

Group messaging

Group messaging using Textra

Plug-ins

Emoji and different plug-ins in Textra

Quick Compose and Quick Reply

This feature is what I love the most. Quick reply is of course activated when you open your incoming sms while quick compose is activated at the notification drawer provided that you checked the option in Textra's settings.

Quick compose

Quick reply

So that's it. We, android users, currently have alot of choices when it comes to sms/mms app. So far for me, Textra worked really well and I do recommend it to everyone who wants to change their stock sms app.