The Good
- Unlimited texting for free
- Supports group texting
- Nice interface
The Bad
- No assigned phone number
Brightkite’s Group Text app (Free) is one option for sending text messages if you don’t have a phone -- like if you have an iPod touch -- or if you easily exceed your iPhone texting limits. Unlike other texting apps, Group Text doesn’t assign you a phone number, which puts it at a disadvantage against its competitors.
Read More: Top Texting Apps for the iPod touch
Easy to set up, but no phone number
To get started with the Group Text app, you’ll need to create a free account, which takes about two seconds. Once that is done, you can start texting by tapping the compose icon in the upper right-hand corner. Group Text syncs with your contact list, so it is easy to add friends to your message. You can send your message to a maximum of 25 people, but you don’t have to send to that many -- the app works just as well with only recipient.
When your recipient receives a message from Group Text, it says, “Tanya sent you a Brightkite message,” followed by the message. Replies come straight to the app. If the app is closed, you’ll receive a push notification and a red badge will appear on the app icon. Just keep in mind that if you have multiple recipients, they all will receive every reply -- it’s basically a “reply all” situation, even though that may not be apparent when you hit reply.
However, like Textie Messaging, Group Text doesn’t assign you a phone number that you can give out to friends for texting purposes. So, the app works fine when you send texts to someone else, but how can your friends initiate a text message to you without having a phone number? You can search for friends that use the app at Brightkite.com, but I doubt many of my contacts will be doing that.
On a positive note, the interface is very simple and easy to navigate. There aren’t a lot of distracting colors or animations, which I appreciate in a texting app.
The Bottom Line
Group Text isn’t a bad app, but I think textPlus or TextFree Unlimited are better bets. Both of these apps assign you a phone number that you can give out to friends specifically for texting purposes. TextPlus also supports group texting. Group Text does work well and it has a nice interface, but the lack of a phone number is a real downside. Overall rating: 3 stars out of 5.
What You’ll Need
Group Text works on the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. It requires iPhone OS 3.1 or later.