Hands-free texting

[blucas]

Hi there . brand new to Samsung Galaxy S7 and Android phones. I've been on iPhone, but no more! So far, love it ... but I haven't figured out how to have texts read to me. I used Siri on iPhone for this and just gave a command to "read messages" and she would. And I could verbally respond and texts would be sent. Is it possible to do this on my new phone? If so, how? Thanks!!

 

[itsallgood]

Welcome to android. S-Voice is the stock hands free app for Samsung, but is sucks right now. (Its was much better on my S4) I can't stand it now and its not truly hands free anymore. I've been told to try Google Now, but haven't as of yet. I'm hoping they do an update to S-voice, because I really liked it on my S4.

 

[musiclover7]

Google now will do what you are after. Just tell it to read incoming text message, and it will do so, then ask if you want to reply. I prefer it to Siri personally. There are also some apps, such as "Driving Mode" that tame your phone down functionally and make for a nice hands free experience when you are driving. Lots of options. S-Voice is not as terrible in my opinion as many seem to think. You need to change the default text to speech engine though under input settings, and get Samsungs high def voice engines, which for some reason don't come pre-loaded on the phone. Again, you have more choices with voice engine in Android, accent etc... Once the voice is set up with a more natural sounding voice I did not have any probems with S-Voice, I just prefer google now.

 

[blucas]

Thanks for the ideas. I think my issue is that it's a Verizon phone and evidently I've been using the Verizon-provided app for text messages. So when I "Ok, Google" with commands about my text messages, it can't find any messages. I'll try to use the Samsung-provided text app and see if that changes things. Unless you have some other ideas. Thanks!

 

[musiclover7]

Yes.. That is a definite problem right there. Never use the pre-loaded Verizon apps unless you have no choice. In general, try to uninstall them or disable them as soon as possible. The visual voicemail app they offer is ok as long as your company pays for it, as mine does, but if Verizon is still trying to charge their customers a few bucks a month for that feature like they were a few years back, then I would forgo using even that app in favor of free alternatives that can be found in the app store. Switch over to the default messages app from samsung, and don't look back. You can also try some of the other android apps out there if you prefer... Go SMS Pro, Google Hangouts... I have been liking the experience on the built in Samsung messages app though.

 

[blucas]

Great advice! Thanks!!

 

[monicakm]

I've been using Verizon's Messages+ for two years (S5). I'm very pleased with it and all the available customization. I use Google Now (ok Google) for truly hands free text messaging and it works perfectly with Messages+. I haven't had the need to use it on my S7 (I've only had it 6 days) so I just tried it. Worked perfectly. I looked in the Messages+ app to make sure it was recorded there and it was.

 

[bhl62]

Ditto. Google Now works fine with Message+.

BTW, you can play around with Now to get it to understand relationships for easier calling. Set it up by saying something like 'text my wife', and Now will ask 'who's your wife' and let you pick from your contacts and remember it for later. Set up all your common relationships like 'son', 'mom' ... this way, and it makes life easier on the road.