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APP to send SMS through iPad ?

vish26

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Hi Guys,

I was wondering if there is any APP through which I can send SMS to other cellphone from my iPad from my 3G Sim or otherwise from my iPad. I am not jaibroken nor do I wanna get jailbroken :) Any suggestions ?

I wanna send text messages as a SMS ( Not as a Email) from my iPad I am using a 3G+Wi-Fi iPad-2.

Thanks.
 

WillS

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I've been looking for the same thing. An app that will treat the iPad SIM chip like it is in a phone. I want to be able to send and receive text messages on my iPad as if it were a regular cell phone.
 

twerppoet

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You can not do this, for two reasons.

One, SMS uses spare signaling data from the phone. The iPad does not have a phone. Yes, most (if not all) the hardware is there, but it is not implemented.

Two, the phone number on your SIM for the iPad is not activated as a phone. It is just a tracking number for your billing. The phone companies do this partly because they are set up to track and bill phone numbers. It's easier than inventing a new ID system for non-phone devices. It also lets them use much of the same routing/tracking software/hardware on the data side as they do for phone calls.

But; you can send and receive SMS on your iPad. It requires that you get a service that also supplies a phone number. There are several of these. Most will require a (small) monthly fee.
 
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vish26

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You can not do this, for two reasons.

One, SMS uses spare signaling data from the phone. The iPad does not have a phone. Yes, most (if not all) the hardware is there, but it is not implemented.

Two, the phone number on your SIM for the iPad is not activated as a phone. It is just a tracking number for your billing. The phone companies do this partly because they are set up to track and bill phone numbers. It's easier than inventing a new ID system for non-phone devices. It also lets them use much of the same routing/tracking software/hardware on the data side as they do for phone calls.

But; you can send and receive SMS on your iPad. It requires that you get a service that also supplies a phone number. There are several of these. Most will require a (small) monthly fee.

Can you please name any such APP ?
 

f4780y

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I think I've mentioned this before, but whilst everything that has been said is relevant to a stock iPad, it is possible for any iPad with GSM / 3G to send and receive SMS messages. It's just the OS has been hobbled. All the necessary hardware is there in the 3G chip. A quick jailbreak and installation of an app such as "SwirlySMS for iPad 3G", $4.99 from Cydia (the jailbreak app store) will allow you to send and receive genuine SMS messages via the carrier as you would on a phone.

HOWEVER, a couple of important points:

1) iPad data plans never have SMS included. Therefore you WILL get charge the full network rate if you send an SMS this way. In the UK that's 10-15p per message. Ouch! Of course, if you use the SIM from your phone which is activated for use on your iPad too, and which has an SMS bundle you can send and receive perfectly well within your carrier plan.

2) Whilst SwirlySMS is IOS 5.1.1 compatible and works on all 3G iPads, it just is not as convenient as my phone!. The interface in Swirly is not great, and with iMessage existing now I really have all the functionality I need since most of my friends have iMessage!

You can see a really old discussion on it here - http://www.ipadforums.net/ipad-general-discussions/30544-sms-ipad.html

I appreciate jailbreaking isn't for everyone, although it is relatively risk free, however I do like everyone to be in possession of the facts :)

Hope that clarifies.
 
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vish26

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I think I've mentioned this before, but whilst everything that has been said is relevant to a stock iPad, it is possible for any iPad with GSM / 3G to send and receive SMS messages. It's just the OS has been hobbled. All the necessary hardware is there in the 3G chip. A quick jailbreak and installation of an app such as "SwirlySMS for iPad 3G", $4.99 from Cydia (the jailbreak app store) will allow you to send and receive genuine SMS messages via the carrier as you would on a phone.

HOWEVER, a couple of important points:

1) iPad data plans never have SMS included. Therefore you WILL get charge the full network rate if you send an SMS this way. In the UK that's 10-15p per message. Ouch! Of course, if you use the SIM from your phone which is activated for use on your iPad too, and which has an SMS bundle you can send and receive perfectly well within your carrier plan.

2) Whilst SwirlySMS is IOS 5.1.1 compatible and works on all 3G iPads, it just is not as convenient as my phone!. The interface in Swirly is not great, and with iMessage existing now I really have all the functionality I need since most of my friends have iMessage!

You can see a really old discussion on it here - http://www.ipadforums.net/ipad-general-discussions/30544-sms-ipad.html

I appreciate jailbreaking isn't for everyone, although it is relatively risk free, however I do like everyone to be in possession of the facts :)

Hope that clarifies.

I mentioned this already when I put this thread :) in my first post, I dont wanna be jailbroken :)
 

f4780y

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vish26 said:
I mentioned this already when I put this thread :) in my first post, I dont wanna be jailbroken :)

Which is why I specifically mentioned it isn't for everyone :)
However, it is important for folks to know that it is the ONLY option if you want to send genuine SMS messages via the iPad GSM and SIM. Apple are highly unlikely to ever enable these features for stock iPads, so jailbreaking is the only viable mechanism.

I do understand the question was, how do I send / receive genuine SMS on iPad without jailbreaking, but the answer is, the only way to do is is by jailbreaking. Sorry :(

Otherwise, you just need to use one the plethora of messaging apps (including iMessage) which use alternative mechanisms to genuine SMS messages and rely on a data connection. But that wasn't your stated requirement ;)
 
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vish26

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Which is why I specifically mentioned it isn't for everyone :)
However, it is important for folks to know that it is the ONLY option if you want to send genuine SMS messages via the iPad GSM and SIM. Apple are highly unlikely to ever enable these features for stock iPads, so jailbreaking is the only viable mechanism.

I do understand the question was, how do I send / receive genuine SMS on iPad without jailbreaking, but the answer is, the only way to do is is by jailbreaking. Sorry :(

Otherwise, you just need to use one the plethora of messaging apps (including iMessage) which use alternative mechanisms to genuine SMS messages and rely on a data connection. But that wasn't your stated requirement ;)

Infact I was just gonna say this, I am looking out for to how to use iMeassge in this !
 

twerppoet

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Can you please name any such APP ?

I don't use any SMS apps, but I believe you can do it with a Google Voice account and one of several SMS apps. Try searching for Google Voice and SMS in the App Store. There are other apps, but I can't remember any of the names at the moment. A search for SMS should turn up several. Read the descriptions and reviews closely.
 

twerppoet

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I think I've mentioned this before, but . . .

Now that you've mentioned it again I do remember; and how surprised I was to find out that carriers would allow SMS on an iPad account, (even at the horrendous per message prices).

Guess I'm going senile. (sigh)

I'll try to remember the jailbreak caveat next time. Though this time it turned out to be irrelevant; I do like to be complete. And while the gist of my post was correct, it appears that I was wrong in almost all the details and reasons. :eek:
 

f4780y

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Now that you've mentioned it again I do remember; and how surprised I was to find out that carriers would allow SMS on an iPad account, (even at the horrendous per message prices).

Guess I'm going senile. (sigh)

I'll try to remember the jailbreak caveat next time. Though this time it turned out to be irrelevant; I do like to be complete. And while the gist of my post was correct, it appears that I was wrong in almost all the details and reasons. :eek:

Senior moments happen to us all :)

The crux of it is that the GSM baseband and hardware is standard and therefore can do anything other devices, such as a phone, can do. It's just that Apple don't include the features and functionality in the OS for iPad compared to the iPhone. But if you have hacked the OS, you can enable the features.

iPhoneIslam ported the entire iPhone phone app to the iPad1 a couple of years ago and it was entirely possible to use the iPad as a stand alone phone if you put your iPhone SIM it it! Impractical, but cool none the less!
 

Jirokitty

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There's a app called text for free idk how it works so m just guessing but try it may help
 

pcdebb

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Textfree is the app. U get a number and it works just like SMS. U also get an email address too.

Sent from my iPad3 using iPF
 

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