In spite of all the things smartphones can do, messaging remains\r\none of the most popular activities. And although smartphones include built-in email\r\nand texting functionality, lots of apps provide richer messaging capabilities.\r\nHere are five free apps that are worth a look.
Note: This gallery is also available as an article.
One of the coolest things about Hike is that it allows you\r\nto send just about any type of file to your contacts. You can even send\r\nnon-media files, such as ZIP files and PowerPoint files.
Hike Messenger is available on iOS, Android, and Windows\r\nPhone.
The app includes several built-in groups, such as Family,\r\nBest Friends, and Co-Workers. You can easily populate these groups and you can\r\ncreate your own groups. Two things really make GroupMe effective. First, it’s\r\nbased on text messages — so recipients can receive a message even if they don’t\r\nhave GroupMe installed. Second, GroupMe allows you to share your groups if you\r\nwant, so that everyone in a group can have a copy.
GroupMe is available on iOS, Android, and Windows Phone.
After the initial setup process, Jongla lets you chat with\r\nyour contacts. You can send pictures, YouTube videos, and stickers, along with\r\nbasic text. (The stickers are basically cartoons that respond to the touch.) The\r\napp also has its own text-to-speech function that allows you to dictate\r\nmessages.
Jongla is available on iOS, Android, and Windows Phone.
XMS supports location sharing (via a map with\r\nyour GPS location marked) and video sharing.
eBuddy XMS is available on iOS, Android, and Windows Phone.
Numerous solutions allow you to verbally compose messages,\r\nbut most use voice recognition to turn your words into text. These engines are\r\nnotoriously inaccurate, which often makes voice texting a frustrating\r\nexperience. With TalkBox, however, your voice — not a text representation of\r\nwhat you said — is transmitted. You can even have verbal “conversations”\r\nwith up to nine people at a time.
TalkBox is available on iOS, Android, Windows Phone, and\r\nBlackberry.
* 1988 - Started teaching myself about computers \ * 1992 - Mainframe programmer for an insurance company \ * 1993 - Network Administrator for a different insurance company \ * 1996 - Author for The Cobb Group \ * 1998 - Network Administrator for Fort Knox \ * 1999 - CIO for chain of hospitals \ * 2000 - Gave up the corporate rat race to work out of my home. I have been a full time technical author ever since. Visit my Web sites at http://www.brienposey.com and http://www.relevanttechnologies.com \
