Will the best Android SMS app step forward....

After months of looking for the best android SMS / MMS app, I am still nowhere closer than when I started. I have now downloaded many of the top SMS apps from the Play store and a few others not in the store.

Below is a list of these apps, my comments and even supporting screen shots. I have 2 goals from this blog:
1.) Feedback from users on their opinion of the real best Android app available
2.) The developers of these apps will improve their app to really make it the "best SMS" app on the planet.

Below is a link to my spreadsheet with "my" top priorities for an SMS / MMS app. Please know that this is a "work in progress".

SMS comparison

The Good, Bad and the Ugly of MMS pictures from an iPhone to an Android user

Below are photos from each one of the SMS / MMS apps that I have installed on my phone that illustrate how a picture WITH text from an iPhone displays in the app.

Please note, this thread was initiated with a group SMS to 5 people. As each person responded, one in 1 instance did the app recognize the outbound group SMS and link it to the reply. (Group SMSs is a real weak spot for Android. Not sure why as iPhone has no issues with group messages.)

CHOMP (my personal favorite)

As you can see from this first photo, the image (picture) is not displayed in the actual text message (MMS). The user must actually click on the message with the "play" arrow to launch a slide show to watch the message and / or additional text. Not ideal. In this case there is both an image and additional text that is hidden from view, that can only be seen by launching the slideshow.

This is the first page of the slideshow showing the same text as in the original text message. Now you need to wait 5 seconds to see the next portion....

Here is the second (last) portion of the slideshow showing both the image and additional text not displayed in the original text message. Note: you can fast forward the slideshow to avoid waiting the 5 seconds. You can even pause the slideshow to study a photo or text. But the better question is "WHY". Why can't they just display the picture and the text in the original text message. Some apps do this, but why don't all of them. It's 2014 and iPhone is kicking Android's butt in this area.

GO SMS Pro version 6.0

Boy how the mighty have fallen...while I really love the UI on this new version, they completely stripped out all the original features and settings that made GO SMS so powerful. On the GO SMS Facebook page, the developer admits that he shouldn't have gutted the app and vows to bring back some of GO SMS's best feature. Why did they remove those cool features in the first place.

Similar to Chomp, the image is not displayed in the body of the text, rather you have to click on the arrow to launch the slideshow. But in the case of GO SMS, it's not a slideshow, it's a series of still frames showing the pictures and text (if any).

Better than Chomp, but still not perfect. 

HANDCENT

Still not where it needs to be. Of the big 3, Handcent is not better than Chomp or Go SMS, it too does not display the image in the text body, but rather the user must click on the arrow to launch the slideshow. 

Unlike the Chomp and Go SMS, it shows the picture, but interestingly Handcent does not show the additional text that was embedded with the picture. Obviously, this could potentially be a problem as the receiver could potentially misunderstand the context or rational of the picture.

Above is the first 5 seconds of the slideshow. 

Directly above is the 2nd 5 seconds of the slideshow, but notice no text. Bad!

SMART SMS

Smart SMS is only smart is some ways. It recognized the outbound group text and it was the only SMS app in the group that matched the reply back to the outbound. However, the app lacks the sophistication to pull in the picture with the embedded text or the second reply to this outbound group text. Good thoughts...poor execution.

TEXTRA

Probably the best of the group. I doesn't recognize the outbound text, but it displays all the replies together along with the picture and the embedded text with the picture from the iPhone sender. The only drawback that I currently know of with Textra is "sharing" an outbound photo with the app doesn't seem to work. Also, while working, it does take some getting used to the new way (Android 5.0 style) that it handles pop-up notifications.

STOCK SONY MESSAGING

A close tie with Textra. While the app lacks the customization of Textra and the "pop-up" of Textra, it is the only app to display the original text correctly. Embedded text with the image are shown together with the photo; notice the border around the text and the picture. The separate text is also there and properly displayed as separate text. 

EASY SMS

While very customizable and light weight, it chokes on properly displaying a picture and text from an iPhone. Here's how the original text message is displayed. Again, you see the arrow to launch the slide show. 

Slideshow page 1 shows the first part of the text. 

Slideshow page 2 shows the picture and the second part of the text. 

HELLO SMS

Getting better...like the stock Sony app and Textra, it shows the text and the image all in the original text message body. While  this should be the goal of every SMS app, Hello SMS is lacking in other ways making it slightly unusable as my "daily driver" SMS app. 

EVOLVESMS

One of the newest SMS apps to hit the market and very feature rich. However, users have complained about many bugs in the app. On the other hand, this app gets how to display MMS messages with pictures and text from iPhones. See below for the screen shot of the original text message. 

Not too shabby. EvolveSMS has a clean interface and displays photos and text in the original text message...I may have found my "daily driver". 

Too all the diehard Android fans, I wrote this article for you and me. Selfishly, I still want your input on the "real" best Android SMS / MMS app on the market, but I also wanted you to see how the apps that I tested handled pictures with text from iPhone users. 

I welcome all comments in the hope to one day find the BEST ANDROID SMS app. 

(This blog is a work in progress and will be updated as I continue to search, so please check back in the future.)