You are here

CB » BlackBerry Apps » txtForward: Automatically Forward SMS to Email
txtForward
BlackBerry Bold UK Launch Party! Previous
Review: Cram for BlackBerry SmartphonesNext
12 Comments

txtForward: Automatically Forward SMS to Email

By Kevin Michaluk on 28 Jul 2008 12:50 am
0
loading...
0
loading...
0
loading...

Our friends at Electric Pocket, makers of FlipSide MP3 Player and Ringo Ringtone Manager, let me know about their latest app last week, but with all the KickStart excitement I forgot to get it posted! txtForward is a simple application that allows you to forward your incoming SMS messages to an email address. Here's the overview from EP:

txtForward automatically forwards SMS text messages received on your BlackBerry to any email address you supply. Using txtForward to send your incoming text messages to email can be useful in a number of different ways...

Some people want to backup all their text messages, so they have them safely stored away for future use. You can use txtForward to have emails sent to a gmail account, for example, where your messages will be archived forever.

Other people are more focused on email as they work through the day. Maybe they even leave their BlackBerry in their bag while they work at their desks. txtForward makes sure they don't miss an incoming SMS message, as they can have sent to their email inbox - so it shows up on their desktop PC, in Outlook for example.

Some folks have to juggle a couple of phones, maybe a work phone and a personal phone, or maybe they're swapping from a BlackBerry to an iPhone and have a new phone number. With txtForward running on the BlackBerry you won't miss any SMS text messages sent to one phone while you use the other, or if your friends don't have your new number yet.

txtForward sells for $7.95 and a FREE TRIAL is available. If you give it a go, be sure to report back and let everyone know what you think.

Topics: BlackBerry Apps

BlackBerry Bold UK Launch Party! Previous
Review: Cram for BlackBerry SmartphonesNext
Kevin Michaluk Kevin Michaluk 3683 (articles) 3023 (forum posts)
12 comments

vaxick

Or Blackberry users could wait for the release of Dashwire for Blackberry and get this same sort of service for free.

http://dashwire.com/tour/video

Neomobi

This is a very slick and simple app for a blackberry! Why this has not been out sooner is beyond me.
This solves a lot of issues with carrying around 2 mobiles or if you are in front of your computer all day and want to monitor your SMS It took less than a minute to download the app OTA to my Blackberry and less than a minute to get it up and running. Well worth the $8!

nrkelly

I don't understand the point of paying for this program when you can just hit menu then "forward as" and it's free.

Iain Barclay

txtForward automatically forwards all your SMS messages, not just those you manually select, so its a "set and forget" way to get SMS to email...

telejeff

Now, I can forward my text messages to my email address that is pushed to my blackberry. Now I'll get my texts in two inboxes!

keinuser

... and does the same :)
http://www.bfinet.de/sms2mail/bfi_sms_eng.asp

Anonymous

What sucks about txtForward is that all of the messages have to go through their servers, and who knows what they will do with them??? Must use email on blackberry and not third party service to email.

electricpocket

We have released a free upgrade that lets you forward using your own email account on your Blackberry - visit http://txtfwd.com on your BB to get the new version (download the trial).

Gibbon

I have been having issues where I live and work with my not seeing incoming SMS items for hours because my computer is situated in a mobile network dead spot! My BB is thus left on charge in another room where there is cover. Further, as 99% of my electronic communications are NOT via SMS and I keep SMSs in their own separate message list anyway, even if I periodically go to the room where the BB is and glance at the device, the chances are the little icon indicating the presence of an unread SMS won't be noticed amongst the other items-unread icons (an SMS is even less likely to be noticed if SMSs are placed in the main message list, becuase in that list unread ones are represented by the same icon as used for an unread email). So, I am off now to try txtfwd.com's app, and will report back!!

Gibbon

Yes! It certainly works. HOWEVER, replies to the emailed version of the incoming SMS sent using self-same email are NOT recorded in the user's SMS outbox (where I am, anyway, here in Ireland using a Bold 9000 on the o2 mobile network), despite the user's SMS acount being used to send the text*. So, the only record of these, here, is the emailed copy. Also, when replying by email, remember to kill any email signature before sending as that will be incorporated in the SMS, and so clog up the receiver's SMS inbox, if you don't .

In the menu, it is unclear what 'Forward direct from phone' means exactly. However, the developers have told me it simply means that, if ticked/checked, your own email account's server is used to send off the emailed SMS items, not theirs. They suggested I tick/check it (I use Hotmail). I assume it should only be unticked/unchecked (the default, btw) if your email account refuses to send emails back to itself.

All said and done, an excellent application. Very pleased with it. But, personally, I shall use it mainly as an incoming SMS emailed alert device, because of the outgoing EMAILED reply-texts' failure to appear in the device's SMS outbox. In what form they appear on the mobile network's bill, I do not know yet. One would prefer the SMS bill and the SMS outbox to tally exactly.

*I have just checked with the developer that this is the case. Their support service is rapid and efficient, I should add.

Gibbon

TextForward recommend the user using his/her own email for forwarding, not their server, as stated above (better security being one reason). A slight issue here is that you thus have two email records: the email sent by yourself, and the same email received by yourself. Further, there can be time discrepancies, one of the email copies arriving several minutes after the other. Additionally, there can be a general, if small, lapse in time between the actual sending or receiving of the text by the mobile network and the arrival of the email copies. These (minor) discrepancies can cause some muddle in the event of lots of texts being sent back and forth at great speed, if strict chronology is an issue. The answer, I think, is to merge both email copies, then delete the later of the two, regardless as to whether it is the sent email or received email copy. As regards the network bill/invoice, texts sent from an email or conventionally are documented identically, despite the former not being recorded in the BB's SMS outbox. It is maybe useful therefore to make sure that a duplicate of such texts - the ones sent from an email - is kept is kept in a special, separate folder, if you're using an email client which enables this and you like to check your bill precisely. That a reply-text CAN be sent from an email I would say is more useful than the records' anomaly is a problem.

mommyxoxo

I've used txtForward for a few months & have loved it. However, I recently did an update on my phone and lost my unlock code.

I contacted txtForward several weeks ago to try to retrieve the unlock code. They responded, asking for my phone #, etc. However, I have not heard back since & have attempted to contact them several times.