Textra SMS is an Android app from Delicious Global Pty Ltd for sending and receiving SMS and MMS through a mobile carrier. The free app shows ads, while a one-time Pro upgrade removes advertising without changing its messaging features. Textra does not provide RCS messaging or end-to-end encryption.
Media messages and recipient groups
New messages accept individual contacts or groups from the phone’s address book. Choosing a group expands its members into individual recipients, so users can remove people before sending. Bulk mode sends a message separately to each recipient. Textra also supports MMS group conversations.
The plus panel opens attachment tools, including a camera and a gallery for pictures, videos and GIFs. Users select several thumbnails or open an item full screen to inspect it. They can zoom, scroll through media, and play videos or GIFs before choosing attachments.
Carrier Send Limit controls outgoing MMS compression. When a picture or video exceeds that setting, Textra compresses it for the carrier’s limit. Quick Voice Memos adds a microphone beside the message field; holding it records an audio message.
Choosing when a message leaves
Scheduling handles both SMS and MMS. From a chat’s plus panel, the clock control opens the future date and time choices. Textra holds the message for sending at that time.
A separate send-delay setting pauses an outgoing message for one to ten seconds. During that pause, users can cancel it.
Appearance for each conversation
Textra changes the overall theme, screen background, message bubbles and app icon colors. Light & Night Mode switches between light daytime and dark nighttime screens using local twilight times. Users also choose bubble shapes, fonts, text sizes, emoji styles and skin tones.
Individual conversations can have their own bubble colors, signatures and notification preferences. To customize several chats together, users select them in the chat list and open Customize. For one conversation, its expanded menu provides Customize this Chat.
Notification controls cover icon shape, sound, privacy, reminders and muting. The Quick Reply popup also lets users answer an incoming SMS.
Reactions on message bubbles
Textra displays incoming iPhone reactions as emoji over the original message bubble. To send a reaction, users tap a received bubble, open its emoji control, and choose the reaction. Sending reactions supports both Android and iPhone recipients.
Searching and copying message text
The search field accepts a contact or group name together with the words to find. Textra restricts the results to that conversation. Pin-to-top keeps chosen conversations at the top of the chat list.
For part of an existing message, users tap its bubble, choose Copy, and select the text they want.
Hiding a contact’s messages
Blocklisting hides messages from a contact. Users select a chat and choose Blocklist from its menu. The Blocklisted settings page also lets them remove that contact from the list. Its conversation and messages then appear in the chat list again.
The Keep chat
Keep stores notes and shared content on the phone without sending them to anyone. Users can type into this special chat or share content from another app into it. Its contents can include text, links and pictures.
