Textra SMS Messaging App Review

I first used the Samsung messaging app for years, which I loved. But Samsung pushed me off as they declined into oblivion. So I went with what they recommended – Google Messages. That kept losing messages which caused all sorts of issues. So then I did a bunch of research and loaded Textra onto my phone.

Textra worked perfectly. It did NOT lose any messages.

The intro screen is nice because there’s very little ‘wasted space’. It simply shows you all the conversations (and a small ad on the top, unless you pay).

On the down side, though, Textra is ONLY SMS and not RCS. That means it can’t tell you if someone has read your message. A key way I use text is to know if someone’s read or not read a message (with their permission of course) to know what course of action to take. If I have no idea if a message has been read, then I can’t use the text system the way I need to.

Here’s the intro screen. It is nice and ‘clean’ design.

Here’s a conversation.

There is NO way to turn on read receipts here. It just can’t happen.

So as much as I was liking this alternative, I’ll have to keep looking.

Choosing an App for Phone Text Messages