- Text Apps Designed for the iPhone: Textfree
- Text Apps Designed for the iPad: TextNow and iText Pro
- Web Texting Solutions for Your iPad
- Summary
Web Texting Solutions for Your iPad
Who needs a specialty iPad app when you have the Web? The web browser included in your iPad is arguably one of the most advanced browsers you can run. Loaded with HTML 5 goodness, the iPad allows developers to build amazingly rich solutions that stand shoulder-to-shoulder with traditional apps.
A number of standout texting solutions are available via the Webwithout installing any software. The king of the heap is currently Facebook. One important reason why Facebook is so popular is due to how it gets content to you. You can choose to have updates sent via SMS, and you can reply from a Web pagewith your message converted automatically into a text message. You can text your friends and receive replies right in your web browser!
Not surprisingly, Google is close behind Facebook as a strong competitor. Services such as Google Talk, Google Wave, and Google Buzz are all integrated with SMS technologies. When you update your Buzz account, a notification is sent through SMS.
Currently, one critical issue stops these web apps from trumping native iPad apps: notification. When you close your web page, it's impossible to know whether you've received a new text messageuntil the next time you open your browser and return to that site.