Textra SMS

Review by eFreeware

Most phones arrive with a texting app already installed, and most people never question it. Textra SMS is built on the premise that you might. It is a free replacement for that stock SMS and MMS app, and the pitch is straightforward: more speed, more control over how conversations look, and a handful of features the built-in option tends not to offer.

The most distinctive thing about it is the sheer depth of customization. The developer advertises more than 180 Material Design themes plus separate bubble and app icon colors, and that sits alongside screen modes, bubble styles, text sizes and font choices. This is an app for someone who sends a lot of texts and has opinions about how they should look.

It is also for the person who wants specific tools rather than a fresh coat of paint. Scheduling a message to go out later, delaying a send so you can catch a typo, blocking a number, or keeping a conversation pinned at the top are the sorts of things that push people to look beyond what shipped with the phone.

A texting app built around customization

Theming is the headline. Along with the theme count, there are light, dark, black, night and Android screen modes, multiple bubble styles and 21 text sizes, so the look of a conversation can be tuned quite precisely. Colors can be set per conversation rather than globally, which means a thread with one person need not match a thread with another.

That per-conversation idea extends past color. Signatures and notifications can also be set individually, covering icon shape, sound, privacy, reminders and muting. If you want one contact's messages to arrive quietly and another's to stand out, the structure is there for it.

Emoji get similar treatment. Android, Twitter, JoyPixels and iOS styles are all available, including skin-tone variations, and you pick the style you prefer rather than accepting whatever the system provides. It is a small thing that matters a great deal to some people and not at all to others.

Scheduling, quick replies and the daily mechanics

Beyond appearance, the app carries a solid set of practical tools. Messages can be scheduled to send in the future, and a send delay gives you a moment to cancel or correct something before it leaves. Sliding on a message deletes it or starts a call, and a quick reply popup lets you answer without leaving whatever else you are doing.

Media handling is covered too. There is a quick snap camera for grabbing a photo on the spot, a gallery that supports selecting several pictures at once, automatic compression for video and pictures, and voice memos for when typing is inconvenient. GIFs are supported as well, which by now most people expect from a messaging client.

Group messaging over MMS gets its own attention, and the developer describes it in enthusiastic terms. For anyone who coordinates plans or family logistics by group text, that is likely to be the feature that decides whether the app stays installed. Message blocking and blocklisting are here as well, along with the ability to pin a conversation to the top of the list.

Reactions, partial copying and emoji styles

Two additions stand out for anyone who texts across platforms. Reactions from iOS users, known as Tapbacks, are also handled. Rather than an incoming message reading something like Loved "See you at 9pm", a heart appears over the message you sent, matching how reactions behave on iOS and in other messaging services. Reactions can be sent from Textra as well, not just received.

The second is partial text copying. Tapping a bubble opens the ability to copy just part of the text inside it instead of the whole message, which is useful when someone sends a long paragraph containing one address, code or phone number you need.

The app supports Unicode 17 emoji across the Android, iOS and JoyPixels styles, and scheduled messages have been improved. Taken together, the picture is of an app that is still being worked on rather than left alone.

Working alongside other tools

Textra is described as fully compatible with Pushbullet, MightyText and Android Auto, which matters if you already lean on those for notifications or for replying from a car. If your texting setup involves a desktop companion or a vehicle dashboard, that compatibility is worth checking before you commit to a new default app.

This is a replacement for the app that came preinstalled, so the practical question is whether it can take over that role without friction. The developer positions it as an alternative rather than a companion, which suggests it is meant to be the main texting app on the phone rather than something running alongside the stock one.

What it costs and how the ads work

Textra is free to download and the developer states that all features are free permanently. The customization, scheduling, group messaging and everything else are available without paying.

The trade-off is advertising. The app contains ads, which appear occasionally rather than constantly. If you would rather not see them, there is a one-time in-app purchase that removes ads for good. That is a single payment rather than a subscription, which is a distinction many people care about when deciding whether to commit.

You can use it free and accept the occasional ad, or pay once and be done with them.

How it compares with the alternatives

The obvious comparison is the texting app that came with your phone. That one costs nothing and is already installed. Textra's case rests on doing more: the theme and bubble controls, the scheduling, the send delay, the per-conversation notification settings and the blocklisting are the reasons someone would switch rather than stay put.

Messaging services built around an account rather than a phone number are another alternative. If the people you message most are on the same service as you, a dedicated messaging app may cover your needs; Textra is for the messages that travel as ordinary texts.

The third is the category of lightweight, stripped-down texting replacements, which typically trade features for simplicity. Textra sits at the opposite end of that scale, with settings for themes, bubble colors, icon shapes, sounds, privacy and reminders. Anyone who finds a long settings menu tiresome will feel the difference immediately; anyone who enjoys tuning things will not mind at all.

A capable replacement for anyone who texts a lot

Textra SMS has been around since May 2013 and has accumulated more than 10 million installs, with a 4.0 average across 440,129 ratings. Those numbers suggest a mature app with a substantial user base rather than an experiment, though the rating also suggests it has not pleased everyone who tried it.

My read is that it suits people who treat texting as a primary way of communicating and want it to look and behave the way they prefer. The combination of deep theming, scheduled messages, group MMS handling and cross-platform reaction support covers a lot of ground that the stock app typically does not. If you send the occasional short text and never think about it, the extra settings will likely go unused.

The free download makes trying it a low-risk decision, and the one-time purchase to remove ads is a reasonable way to support an app you end up relying on. I would suggest installing it, setting a theme and a couple of per-conversation notifications, and seeing whether the extra control is something you actually want. For heavy texters who have ever wished their messaging app looked different, it is an easy recommendation.

What's new in version 4.87

✔ Added support for the latest (Unicode 17) emojis for Android, iOS and Joypixel styles. ✔ Improved Scheduled Message feature. ✔ Bug fixes (including audio ad issue).