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SMS scheduling app (which do you use?)

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  SMS scheduling app (which do you use?) Algeria Horan <algeriahoran@algeria.horan.net> - 2016-11-01 14:14 +0000
    Re: SMS scheduling app (which do you use?) Algeria Horan <algeriahoran@algeria.horan.net> - 2016-11-05 02:34 +0000
      Re: SMS scheduling app (which do you use?) Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2016-11-05 11:05 +0000
        Re: SMS scheduling app (which do you use?) Algeria Horan <algeriahoran@algeria.horan.net> - 2016-11-05 13:15 +0000
          Re: SMS scheduling app (which do you use?) Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2016-11-05 13:30 +0000
            Re: SMS scheduling app (which do you use?) Algeria Horan <algeriahoran@algeria.horan.net> - 2016-11-05 13:40 +0000
              Re: SMS scheduling app (which do you use?) "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@invalid.es> - 2016-11-05 15:46 +0100
                Re: SMS scheduling app (which do you use?) Algeria Horan <algeriahoran@algeria.horan.net> - 2016-11-06 03:05 +0000
                  Re: SMS scheduling app (which do you use?) William Unruh <unruh@invalid.ca> - 2016-11-06 11:07 +0000
                    Re: SMS scheduling app (which do you use?) Richard Kettlewell <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2016-11-06 11:58 +0000
                      Re: SMS scheduling app (which do you use?) "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@invalid.es> - 2016-11-06 13:43 +0100
                      Re: SMS scheduling app (which do you use?) Algeria Horan <algeriahoran@algeria.horan.net> - 2016-11-06 21:54 +0000
                      Re: SMS scheduling app (which do you use?) Jasen Betts <jasen@xnet.co.nz> - 2016-11-10 23:36 +0000
                  Re: SMS scheduling app (which do you use?) "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@invalid.es> - 2016-11-06 12:54 +0100

#35583 — SMS scheduling app (which do you use?)

There are so many SMS schedulers in the play store that it isn't funny.

It would take a lifetime to test them all, so, I just quickly ask if you
happen to have a favorite that does these basic things:

1. Schedules SMS (a must have)
2. Repeats message (a must have)
3. Allows for easy variation (a nice to have)
4. No adware, no unnecessary permissions (mandatory)

The "easy variation" is just icing on the cake, which is that I can write
three or four messages and it will send them either randomly or in sequence
for each scheduled delivery to my kids to remind them to do things while
away at college.

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#35623

On Tue, 1 Nov 2016 14:14:53 +0000 (UTC), Algeria Horan wrote:

> There are so many SMS schedulers in the play store that it isn't funny.
> 
> It would take a lifetime to test them all, so, I just quickly ask if you
> happen to have a favorite that does these basic things:
> 
> 1. Schedules SMS (a must have)
> 2. Repeats message (a must have)
> 3. Allows for easy variation (a nice to have)
> 4. No adware, no unnecessary permissions (mandatory)
> 
> The "easy variation" is just icing on the cake, which is that I can write
> three or four messages and it will send them either randomly or in sequence
> for each scheduled delivery to my kids to remind them to do things while
> away at college.

Looks like nobody schedules SMS messages.
To help others choose, the one I am currently using seems OK, but it's not
perfect.

It's called Advance SMS Scheduler com.biztech.smsscheduler, 
by biztechconsultancy
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.biztech.smsscheduler

You set the start and end date, time, and whether to repeat daily, every 2
days, every 5 days, every week, every 15 days, every 20 days, every month,
or every year.

It seems to work, but the granularity is fixed as shown above, as is the
message itself. So I'm looking for one that has any repeat cycle, and/or the
ability to vary the message.

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#35631

Algeria Horan wrote:

>> There are so many SMS schedulers in the play store that it isn't funny.
>
> Looks like nobody schedules SMS messages.

Yeah sending scheduled SMSes to other people isn't something I do, if 
the recipients want reminders, can't they set them in their own calendars?

I do have a couple of recurring events in a google calendar which used 
to send me SMS reminders, but I don't think they've "fired" for a couple 
of years, maybe they've ceased that service?

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#35634

On Sat, 5 Nov 2016 11:05:26 +0000, Andy Burns wrote:

> Yeah sending scheduled SMSes to other people isn't something I do, if 
> the recipients want reminders, can't they set them in their own calendars?

Do you have teens?

> I do have a couple of recurring events in a google calendar which used 
> to send me SMS reminders, but I don't think they've "fired" for a couple 
> of years, maybe they've ceased that service?

Dunno about Google calendar since I shy away from logging into Google
anything, but you can schedule Happy Birthday's, Pay Tuition, Sign up for
classes starts today, and other events via SMS.

My use is mostly for a teen in college who is very forgetful.

Even if I used a Google Calendar entry (which I would never do), it would
still be two steps, unless Google SMS reminders will sent to other
recipients.

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#35635

Algeria Horan wrote:

> Do you have teens?

Thankfully not.

> My use is mostly for a teen in college who is very forgetful.

Sounds like a training opportunity ...

> Even if I used a Google Calendar entry (which I would never do), it would
> still be two steps, unless Google SMS reminders will sent to other
> recipients.

AFAIK, it can only send to the owner of the calendar, not the people 
named in it.

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#35636

On Sat, 5 Nov 2016 13:30:42 +0000, Andy Burns wrote:

>> Do you have teens?
> Thankfully not.

These are my grandkids, and they respond well to SMS for some reason only
known to teens.

>> My use is mostly for a teen in college who is very forgetful.
> Sounds like a training opportunity ...

Try to train your daughter's kids.
Just try it some day.

Let me know how it works out for you.
:)

>> Even if I used a Google Calendar entry (which I would never do), it would
>> still be two steps, unless Google SMS reminders will sent to other
>> recipients.
> AFAIK, it can only send to the owner of the calendar, not the people 
> named in it.

That's what I thought, so thanks for following up that the Google Calendar
entry won't send an SMS to a teen.

If anyone knows of any other app, other than an SMS scheduler, I'd love to
look at it, if it will send specific texts to someone on a pre-defined
schedule.

The SMS scheduler I'm currently using is "Advanced SMS Scheduler", but I'm
not 100% happy with it, so I'm looking for something better in terms of
options available.

Mainly I'd like to write three or four messages to have them sent in
sequence, e.g., 
Day 1: Please buy the LSAT study guide!
Day 3: Please sign up for the LSAT Kaplan study class.
Day 7: Last day to sign up for the next LSAT study class!
etc.

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#35637

On 2016-11-05 14:40, Algeria Horan wrote:

>>> Even if I used a Google Calendar entry (which I would never do), it would
>>> still be two steps, unless Google SMS reminders will sent to other
>>> recipients.
>> AFAIK, it can only send to the owner of the calendar, not the people 
>> named in it.
> 
> That's what I thought, so thanks for following up that the Google Calendar
> entry won't send an SMS to a teen.

I think it can send emails to people that were invited to an event, as
reminders.


> If anyone knows of any other app, other than an SMS scheduler, I'd love to
> look at it, if it will send specific texts to someone on a pre-defined
> schedule.

If you find a stand alone tool to send SMS from a computer (not a web
page), you might be able to program that to happen at certain time. In
Linux, using cron and an SMS sender, which now I don't know of one.
Those I used in the past disappeared.

-- 
Cheers, Carlos.

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#35646

On Sat, 5 Nov 2016 15:46:33 +0100, Carlos E.R. wrote:

> If you find a stand alone tool to send SMS from a computer (not a web
> page), you might be able to program that to happen at certain time. In
> Linux, using cron and an SMS sender, which now I don't know of one.
> Those I used in the past disappeared.

You don't even need an "sms sender" in Linux because there are email-to-sms
gateways for all the common carriers.

So, it's not at all a difficult task in Linux to schedule SMS messages
simply because, on Linux, it would just be a batch file that checks the date
and then sends an email containing a file.

Pseudo code:
  If date then
  mailx -s "subject is here" recipient@tomobile.com < file.txt
  endif

The email addresses for all mobile carriers' SMS gateways are listed on the
net, e.g.,
http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/how-to-send-e-mail-to-sms-text/

So, it's a trivial task, on Linux, to schedule SMS messages.

I guess what you're saying is that Android "is" linux, so, by extension, it
should be trivial on Android?

Is it the same thing?

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#35671

On 2016-11-06, Algeria Horan <algeriahoran@algeria.horan.net> wrote:
> On Sat, 5 Nov 2016 15:46:33 +0100, Carlos E.R. wrote:
>
>> If you find a stand alone tool to send SMS from a computer (not a web
>> page), you might be able to program that to happen at certain time. In
>> Linux, using cron and an SMS sender, which now I don't know of one.
>> Those I used in the past disappeared.
>
> You don't even need an "sms sender" in Linux because there are email-to-sms
> gateways for all the common carriers.
>
> So, it's not at all a difficult task in Linux to schedule SMS messages
> simply because, on Linux, it would just be a batch file that checks the date
> and then sends an email containing a file.
>
> Pseudo code:
>   If date then
>   mailx -s "subject is here" recipient@tomobile.com < file.txt
>   endif
>
> The email addresses for all mobile carriers' SMS gateways are listed on the
> net, e.g.,
> http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/how-to-send-e-mail-to-sms-text/
>
> So, it's a trivial task, on Linux, to schedule SMS messages.
>
> I guess what you're saying is that Android "is" linux, so, by extension, it
> should be trivial on Android?

Linux is the kernel. Not the layer of user programs that run on top of
the kernel. So, you heed a shell with scripting ability, and a mailer
program, like mailx. Do these exist for Android? I do not know. 

>
> Is it the same thing?

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#35674

William Unruh <unruh@invalid.ca> writes:
> On 2016-11-06, Algeria Horan <algeriahoran@algeria.horan.net> wrote:
>> I guess what you're saying is that Android "is" linux, so, by
>> extension, it should be trivial on Android?

It uses a Linux kernel, but there a lot of user-space differences: a
different libc, for example.

> Linux is the kernel. Not the layer of user programs that run on top of
> the kernel. So, you heed a shell with scripting ability, and a mailer
> program, like mailx. Do these exist for Android? I do not know. 

Getting a shell on an Android device is straightforward.  At least on my
phone though, with a very superficial search there’s nothing that looks
likely to be a command-line MUA, but since the actual requirement was to
send SMS messages, this is a bit of a red herring.

-- 
http://www.greenend.org.uk/rjk/

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#35677

On 2016-11-06 12:58, Richard Kettlewell wrote:

> Getting a shell on an Android device is straightforward.  At least on my
> phone though, with a very superficial search there’s nothing that looks
> likely to be a command-line MUA, but since the actual requirement was to
> send SMS messages, this is a bit of a red herring.

There are apps in G. Play that give you a terminal and access to the
shell. The available commands are limited. I have not searched to see if
cron is available.


However, there may be apps that can send an email on schedule, in
typical android manner. A quick search ("schedule mail" in google play)
locates a candidate:


Message & Email Scheduler
RCM Apps

«Ad free version:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.receme.app1.pro

Message & email scheduler is a simple but effective software to schedule
your text sms and emails to be sent at a later time. And the good thing
is, it is free. »


So it can send SMS, which was the original question :-)




-- 
Cheers, Carlos.

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#35689

On Sun, 06 Nov 2016 11:58:59 +0000, Richard Kettlewell wrote:

> Getting a shell on an Android device is straightforward.  At least on my
> phone though, with a very superficial search there’s nothing that looks
> likely to be a command-line MUA, but since the actual requirement was to
> send SMS messages, this is a bit of a red herring.

Thanks for looking for something like a tcl or bash shell.
Seems to me, that's all that's needed.

a. Some way of doing a condition
b. Some way of sending mail

That's it.

 if (condition), then 
   mailx -s "subject" recipient@domain.com < body.txt
 endif

If this can be done on Android, that would solve the problem.

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#35814

On 2016-11-06, Richard Kettlewell <invalid@invalid.invalid> wrote:
> William Unruh <unruh@invalid.ca> writes:
>> On 2016-11-06, Algeria Horan <algeriahoran@algeria.horan.net> wrote:

> Getting a shell on an Android device is straightforward.  At least on my
> phone though, with a very superficial search there’s nothing that looks
> likely to be a command-line MUA, but since the actual requirement was to
> send SMS messages, this is a bit of a red herring.

busybox includes a semi-functinal implememtin of mail, (SMTP is
somewhat non-compliant, but works well enough for many).



-- 
This email has not been checked by half-arsed antivirus software 

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#35673

On 2016-11-06 04:05, Algeria Horan wrote:
> On Sat, 5 Nov 2016 15:46:33 +0100, Carlos E.R. wrote:
> 
>> If you find a stand alone tool to send SMS from a computer (not a web
>> page), you might be able to program that to happen at certain time. In
>> Linux, using cron and an SMS sender, which now I don't know of one.
>> Those I used in the past disappeared.
> 
> You don't even need an "sms sender" in Linux because there are email-to-sms
> gateways for all the common carriers.

Perhaps in your country. In mine, my provider denies having one. There
is a web gateway, and it is not listed in the menu. You need to have a
business contract to get that service. And not my email, but via Windows
software.

So do not say "all common carriers".


> The email addresses for all mobile carriers' SMS gateways are listed on the
> net, e.g.,
> http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/how-to-send-e-mail-to-sms-text/

Mine is not there.

Your page links to another page, a wikipedia one.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_gateway
which also doesn't list my provider. Neither does the equivalent
wikipedia article in my own language.


> I guess what you're saying is that Android "is" linux, so, by extension, it
> should be trivial on Android?

No, I didn't say that.

-- 
Cheers, Carlos.

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