HeyWire is a free app for both iDevices (iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad) and Android that provides unlimited free text not only in the United States, but also to numbers in any of the 146 supported countries.
It is not a BBM-like messaging app like Whatsapp and KakaoTalk. The recipient need not to have the same app installed. All he need is a phone that is capable of receiving text messages, be it a monochrome Nokia 3210 or a cheap Chinese knock-off.
When you first sign up for the service after downloading the app, you will receive a real free US number. The recipient will see your text message as a regular SMS originating from that number. If he decides to reply to that number, he will be charged at the same rate texting to any other US number by his carrier.
Supported Countries & Carriers
At the time of writing, you can send free text internationally to any numbers in the 146 supported countries. You can find the full list of supported countries on this page (select region on the left pane, list of countries and carriers on the right)I have personally tested texting myself to both my Google Voice number (US) and my Malaysian number (Digi, but both Celcom & Maxis is also supported according to the list). Both worked great. The message arrived almost instantly.
If you are sending a text outside US, make sure the number is formatted correctly with the country and area code.
Pros:
- Free text to almost anyone in any country, to any number
- Free US number, capable of both sending and receiving SMS
- The app is free, available in both App Store and Android Market
- Send a message to up to 10 contacts at a time
- Facebook Chat and Google Talk integration (optional)
- App is ad-supported to pay for your free texts
- HeyWire promotional signature in all outgoing texts by default (you can change it easily to your own personalized signature or remove it all together. No biggie)
No comments:
Post a Comment