Help group text messaging

[goodtalk]

Just got my droid and decided to get a new phone number while I was at it. I'd like to send a text message to most (if not all) of my contacts with my new number. When I go to "messaging", it doesn't let me pick names from my contact list to choose from. Is there a better way to do this?

 

[johninbigd]

I have the same need. I get a lot of business-related SMS messages that I need to forward to other members of my team. Instead of sending one txt at a time, I'd love to be able to forward a single txt to everyone on my team at once.

Is that possible?

 

[MotoDroidHelpandInfo]

Very simple. Open up the messaging app. Press the settings key and click compose. Then put the peoples number you want to send to separated by commas.

 

[johninbigd]

Very simple. Open up the messaging app. Press the settings key and click compose. Then put the peoples number you want to send to separated by commas.

That may be "simple", but not easy, and I don't want to have do that every time. This may be slightly different than the OP's request, but is there a way to create a group so I only have to enter the group name, or something like that?

 

[mcbtrain929]

Very simple. Open up the messaging app. Press the settings key and click compose. Then put the peoples number you want to send to separated by commas.

if you have 150 people you want to txt and say "hey, this is my new number", that can get VERY annoying....

 

[aaronbrannt]

There's another thread on this:

http://androidforums.com/support-troubleshooting/15316-need-help-creating-sms-groups.html

not much info, but there's a couple solutions.

 

[Redflea]

Agree...they really need to update the OS, or a simple app to add the functionality...the one I found (Groupu, i think) doesn't work on the Droid.

 

[gregisoutofstep]

Download "Text Easy" from the market. It's free and lets you tap each contacts name, you can also set groups with it.

 

[Barbara]

Download "Text Easy" from the market. It's free and lets you tap each contacts name, you can also set groups with it.

There is a note on that app saying that they are getting reports of problems with Android 2.0 so users may want to wait a bit.

 

[rawness]

Download "Text Easy" from the market. It's free and lets you tap each contacts name, you can also set groups with it.

Does it keep the same threaded structure? Will it start new threads or continue previous ones?

 

[gregisoutofstep]

Does it keep the same threaded structure? Will it start new threads or continue previous ones?

after you send the message to your selected group of people, you can go into the normal messaging program and see it as a threaded message to "name1, name2, name3, etc." so it starts a new thread for the multiple people, not individually. just download it and check it out, you can always uninstall if it's not what you want

 

[gregisoutofstep]

There is a note on that app saying that they are getting reports of problems with Android 2.0 so users may want to wait a bit.

i see those comments now, but it works fine on my droid...just give it a try.

 

[punkzanyj]

Agree...they really need to update the OS, or a simple app to add the functionality...the one I found (Groupu, i think) doesn't work on the Droid.

Droid seems to have caught the devs by surprise. Every new version of Android has forced at least some of the devs to retool their apps so that they work on the new OS.

I get one app update a day, if that, normally. Well, since the droid came out, i open the market to find 5-6 apps need updating every single day. Sometimes the same app is in the list a few days later.

So I guess what I'm saying is, download one of the solutions and look for it to be updated soon. It was like that with 1.6(donut). I installed the new OS and half my apps stopped working. took about two weeks to either get everything updated or find alternatives that had been updated already. I suspect 2.0 updates are going to take a little longer because it seems every app has to be updated.

 

[gregisoutofstep]

well, Text Easy just got updated today for 2.0, so now there's no reason not to try it!

 

[pixiecorpse]

just downloaded text easy on galaxy spica (2.1). was relieved to see gmail-saved group of 17 contacts. sent a text to whole group.
so far so good

 

[micro]

I have the same need. I get a lot of business-related SMS messages that I need to forward to other members of my team. Instead of sending one txt at a time, I'd love to be able to forward a single txt to everyone on my team at once.

Is that possible?

i got the same need. www.xoick.com fits to the need quite well

 

[micro]

if you have 150 people you want to txt and say "hey, this is my new number", that can get VERY annoying....

how about checking out www.xoick.com? i hope it help you out

 

[AMTrombley0924]

Another solution:

If you're going to be sending out information to that many people on a regular basis, it may just be more practical to use email. Email has groups, and creating a group of over 100 people on a computer is much easier than doing it on a phone. Then, the group would be synced to your phone. I know it's not a solution to your SMS problem per se, but I am thinking about practicality for you.

 

[kratos]

Just got my droid and decided to get a new phone number while I was at it. I'd like to send a text message to most (if not all) of my contacts with my new number. When I go to "messaging", it doesn't let me pick names from my contact list to choose from. Is there a better way to do this?

I have the same need. I get a lot of business-related SMS messages that I need to forward to other members of my team. Instead of sending one txt at a time, I'd love to be able to forward a single txt to everyone on my team at once.

Is that possible?

I would actually suggest Handcent: Handcent SMS - Android app on AppBrain over anything else. It is a wonderful, highly customizable app for SMS and MMS messaging.

Go to http://www.gmail.com and sign in. On the left side of the page, look for a link that says "contacts" and click on it. In the top left corner of this new segmented window, you will see two buttons. One has the image of a person with a + and the second has the image of two people and a +. The second image button is the one you want to click on. You may get a message at the top of your browser that says the webpage wants to run a script. If you get that message, click on it and choose to run the script. A small window should open up that says "Script Prompt: What would you like to name the new group?" and you will see a text box just below that message. Enter in the text box something along the lines of 'All Contacts List" (For the purpose of this tutorial, we will use "All Contacts List") and then click "ok". Next, look at your list of contacts and you will see all of that they all have a check box to the left of each contact. Go through the list and check the check box for the contacts you wish to add to this group (you may also simply click the "all" located just above the list of contacts). Finally, look to the right of the list of contacts and you will see a button called "groups". Click on it and then click on "All Contacts List" under "Add To...".

You have now added all of your contacts to a group named "All Contacts List".

Now to take care of the app details:
Make sure you turn off the notifications for the stock messaging app when you download this app. Play around with all of the customization options and get it set to just the way you want it (conversation bubbles, bubble colors, max MMS size, etc).

Once you are done customizing it, go to the front or main page of the app. If you need to, completely back out of the app then open it again. Look in the top left hand corner of the app and you will see what looks like a piece of paper with a folded corner and a pen or pencil. Touch that and it will open a new message. In the "To" field, you will see a green + with a circle around it. Touch that and it will open all of your contacts. The middle option on the top of this page is for groups. Touch that option and then select the group you created and called "All Contacts List". Then press the back button on the bottom of your droid once to return to the compose message page (the page with the "to" field and the green +).

Finally, compose your text message and then press send. It will then send the same message to all of your contacts individually. This may take some time as you said you had more than 100 contacts.

I have done this multiple times and it works wonders. You can even create multiple, different groups and just send texts to just the people in the groups you select. For example, I have groups set up for coworkers, friends, family, employees, class mates (a group for each class that i change each semester), clients, etc.

I hope this helps you accomplish what you are wishing to accomplish. If you have any questions, feel free to ask or pm me.

Kratos

 

[firefighter393]

Handcent SMS in the market works great, checklist for contacts to send to and groups.

 

[coachpete]

I would actually suggest Handcent: Handcent SMS - Android app on AppBrain over anything else. It is a wonderful, highly customizable app for SMS and MMS messaging.

Go to http://www.gmail.com and sign in. On the left side of the page, look for a link that says "contacts" and click on it. In the top left corner of this new segmented window, you will see two buttons. One has the image of a person with a + and the second has the image of two people and a +. The second image button is the one you want to click on. You may get a message at the top of your browser that says the webpage wants to run a script. If you get that message, click on it and choose to run the script. A small window should open up that says "Script Prompt: What would you like to name the new group?" and you will see a text box just below that message. Enter in the text box something along the lines of 'All Contacts List" (For the purpose of this tutorial, we will use "All Contacts List") and then click "ok". Next, look at your list of contacts and you will see all of that they all have a check box to the left of each contact. Go through the list and check the check box for the contacts you wish to add to this group (you may also simply click the "all" located just above the list of contacts). Finally, look to the right of the list of contacts and you will see a button called "groups". Click on it and then click on "All Contacts List" under "Add To...".

You have now added all of your contacts to a group named "All Contacts List".

Now to take care of the app details:
Make sure you turn off the notifications for the stock messaging app when you download this app. Play around with all of the customization options and get it set to just the way you want it (conversation bubbles, bubble colors, max MMS size, etc).

Once you are done customizing it, go to the front or main page of the app. If you need to, completely back out of the app then open it again. Look in the top left hand corner of the app and you will see what looks like a piece of paper with a folded corner and a pen or pencil. Touch that and it will open a new message. In the "To" field, you will see a green + with a circle around it. Touch that and it will open all of your contacts. The middle option on the top of this page is for groups. Touch that option and then select the group you created and called "All Contacts List". Then press the back button on the bottom of your droid once to return to the compose message page (the page with the "to" field and the green +).

Finally, compose your text message and then press send. It will then send the same message to all of your contacts individually. This may take some time as you said you had more than 100 contacts.

I have done this multiple times and it works wonders. You can even create multiple, different groups and just send texts to just the people in the groups you select. For example, I have groups set up for coworkers, friends, family, employees, class mates (a group for each class that i change each semester), clients, etc.

I hope this helps you accomplish what you are wishing to accomplish. If you have any questions, feel free to ask or pm me.

Kratos

This works great! I used this all during the football season this year to text my players parents..never had a problem.

 

[kratos]

This works great! I used this all during the football season this year to text my players parents..never had a problem.

Glad to hear that it has worked so well for you!

Happy texting... LOL

Kratos

 

[fourline]

So after reading all the responses on here I dug into this myself. You can do this from your phone without software. Go to contacts and choose groups. Build your group. With the group open press the group action button and choose message. It will sent to all in the group.

 

[Burkey3210]

So I've been using handcent to sent mass text out for a couple weeks now and the reason I searched is because say I need to send a message that's more than 160 characters, I have to split the message up into 2 separate mass texts. ( I have 91 ppl in the group ) The second time I go to send the rest of the message out it comes up with a prompt saying, "com.handcent.services A large number of SMS messages are being sent out, click OK to continue, click Cancel to stop". So when I sent out the second one I have to click OK 91 times, and if I don't it just marks it undelivered and goes to the next contact, tries to send, fails, and marks undelivered. Then for like the next hour or so even if I try to just send one message to one person it comes up and it's kind of annoying me.

Any help with this would be greatly appreciated, I'm not sure if it's a handcent problem or an android problem but it definitely would help me if I could solve this problem

 

[NiceGuysFinishLast]

So I've been using handcent to sent mass text out for a couple weeks now and the reason I searched is because say I need to send a message that's more than 160 characters, I have to split the message up into 2 separate mass texts. ( I have 91 ppl in the group ) The second time I go to send the rest of the message out it comes up with a prompt saying, "com.handcent.services A large number of SMS messages are being sent out, click OK to continue, click Cancel to stop". So when I sent out the second one I have to click OK 91 times, and if I don't it just marks it undelivered and goes to the next contact, tries to send, fails, and marks undelivered. Then for like the next hour or so even if I try to just send one message to one person it comes up and it's kind of annoying me.

Any help with this would be greatly appreciated, I'm not sure if it's a handcent problem or an android problem but it definitely would help me if I could solve this problem

It's built into android. It's designed to keep your phone from being maliciously (or purposely) programmed to send wave after wave of text messages.