hamw wrote:Any new ideas re how to send an SMS without a fee and without a new thread starting on the phone (eg like ATT does)? Or is Adium considered the best free solution?
I use Textie for free SMS messages from Indigo to my iPhone's Textie App. Indigo treats the messages like emails, but the iPhone Textie App is very similar to the AT&T messaging app, with push notifications that pop-up.
I'm not sure exactly what "without starting a new thread" means. The first text my phone receives from Indigo starts a new thread, but subsequent messages and responses occur within that same thread.
I've found Textie to be 100% reliable, but I'm not a heavy user. That also means that my home broadband is very reliable because, as mentioned, Indigo handles the texting as emails. I receive SMS to the phone instantly, but there can be up to a 5 minute delay for Indigo's email scanner to pick up messages sent to it.
I primarily have used it for
monitoring and controlling an outside outlet, but recently expanded messaging notifications to a few other scenarios, for example if a motion sensor is triggered while the house is set to Away Mode.
My recollection is that there is a free (ad sponsored) version of Textie or for a dollar or two, they remove the adds. Since I also use it for texting family/friends for free instead of paying $.20 to AT&T for each message, I splurged for the ad free version. I have no idea whether is is better or worse than other texting apps.