Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Smart Home
  3. News

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

Alexa now lets Android users dictate and send text messages

By

Alexa-Mayo Clinic
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Amazon looks set to unveil a major new feature with Alexa during the Super Bowl on Sunday, February 4 but before that it’s giving its digital assistant yet another talent — the ability to send an SMS message using an Echo device.

Before now, Alexa could help you send text-based messages to people’s smartphones if you have the Amazon Alexa app and an Echo device, but it needed the recipient to also have the same setup.

Recommended Videos

The new SMS feature is definitely an improvement, but there are still a couple of limitations you’ll need to know about. First, it only works from Android phones, and second, at the current time it’s only available to folks inside the United States. Amazon hasn’t said if it plans to roll it out internationally.

If this is still you, then you can ask Alexa to send an SMS to any of your phone’s contacts. To enable it, open your Alexa app and tap on the “Conversations” icon. Next, select “Contacts” and then “My Profile.” Then it’s simply a case of toggling the “Send an SMS” button.

When you ask Alexa and your Echo device to “send a text message” or “send an SMS,” Amazon’s digital assistant will ask you to name the recipient and then dig out their details from your contacts. If the person isn’t in your contacts, you can simply say the number to which you want to send the message.

A neat touch is that while each message that lands on the recipient’s phone appears in text form, they’ll also have a link you can tap on so they can hear it as well.

Alexa messaging continues to function in the usual way, but if you ask Alexa to send “a message” (as opposed to “a text message” or “an SMS”), it will start by trying to push it through to the Alexa app. If the recipient doesn’t have the app, the function will send it as an SMS instead, in which case, carrier charges may apply.

Android smartphone users should find the new feature working now on all Alexa devices that support Alexa calling and messaging. At the current time it doesn’t work on third-party Alexa speakers.

The new functionality is the latest move by Amazon to get you cozying up to Alexa and the Echo devices that it powers, before you have a chance to take notice of similar alternatives.

If you’d like to learn more about how to get the most out the Alexa app on your Android phone, take a moment to check out DT’s informative article on the subject.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Trevor Mogg
Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
One of our favorite Android phones just got its own iMessage app
Nothing Chats app on a. phone.

Nothing is trying to bridge the great blue/green bubble divide for Android users of iMessage. This is not a personal crusade to shatter walls and open windows, as much as Nothing CEO Carl Pei would want you to believe that. Instead, Nothing is piggybacking on tech created by New York-based startup Sunbird. 
Technically, the Sunbird app can be installed on any Android phone and it features a blue bubble for all iMessage text exchanges involving an Android phone. No more green bubble shame that could get you kicked out of groups for disrupting the harmony or even slim your dating chances. That’s how bad it is! 
Nothing is adopting the Sunbird tech and bundling it as its very own app under the name Nothing Chats. But here’s the fun part. The app only works on the Nothing Phone 2 and not the Nothing Phone 1. And this life-altering boon will only be bestowed upon users in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., or the EU bloc.

The app is currently in the beta phase, which means some iMessage features will be broken or absent. Once the app is downloaded on your Nothing Phone 2, you can create a new account or sign up with your Apple ID to get going with blue bubble texts. 
Just in case you’re concerned, all messages will be end-to-end encrypted, and the app doesn’t collect any personal information, such as the users’ geographic location or the texts exchanged. Right now, Sunbird and Nothing have not detailed the iMessage features and those that are broken. 
We made iMessage for Android...
The Washington Post tried an early version of the Nothing Chats app and notes that the blue bubble system works just fine. Texts between an Android device and an iPhone are neatly arranged in a thread, and multimedia exchange is also allowed at full quality. 
However, message editing is apparently not available, and a double-tap gesture for responding with a quick emoji doesn’t work either. We don’t know when these features will be added. Nothing's Sunbird-based app will expand to other territories soon. 
Sunbird, however, offers a handful of other tricks aside from serving the iMessage blue bubble on Android. It also brings all your other messaging apps, such as WhatsApp and Instagram, in one place. This isn’t an original formula, as Beeper offers the same convenience.

Read more
WhatsApp now lets you add short video messages to chats
WhatsApp logo on a phone.

You can now send short video messages in a WhatsApp chat, Meta announced on Thursday.

A video message can last for up to 60 seconds long and is protected with end-to-end encryption.

Read more
What is Amazon Alexa, and what can it do?
Echo 4th Gen speaker on table.

Amazon Alexa is an interactive voice assistant that can check the weather, launch your favorite playlist, and everything in between. Alexa can be found on most Amazon products, including the new Echo Pop, the iconic Echo Dot, and even a variety of smart thermostats, soundbars, lamps, and more. Aside from taking basic commands from you, Alexa can also dish out commands to the rest of your connected smart home -- making it easy to streamline your life.

Interested in learning more about Amazon Alexa? Then you’re in the right place. Here’s a closer look at where Alexa comes from, how it works, where it got its name, and just about everything else you’d want to know about the popular voice assistant and smart home savant.
Who/what is Alexa?

Read more