Ugh, I hate that SMS is conflated with Hangouts as it is. It causes notification...

orionsbelt · on March 20, 2014

TextSecure! Nobody I know uses it, so the encryption/privacy features are basically useless, but it's a fast, well-designed, pretty app regardless. It also has a feature I love: persistent notifications for unread texts.

tbh · on March 20, 2014

Seconding this, switched to TextSecure when they combined SMS and Hangouts. It is an excellent SMS app replacement. The crypto doesn't get in your way, even when almost none of your contacts also use it.

rahimnathwani · on March 20, 2014

Pinger offers free texts, but it won't work with your Google Voice number: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pinger.tex...

IIRC Google Voice is due to remove API access for third-party apps.

aestra · on March 20, 2014

I love Handset SMS! I never use anything else once I found it! You can customize the alerts you get, icon/vibrate pattern/sound and other features as well.

matthewn · on March 20, 2014

TextSecure is a fantastic, free replacement for the built-in SMS app on Android, even if you don't use any of its encryption features.

tbh · on March 20, 2014

Agreed! I'm recommending it to anyone uncomfortable with the SMS/Hangouts merge.

vinw · on March 20, 2014

I like the standard AOSP Messaging app, which someone has bundled up here for people whose Android doesn't come with it installed.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=fr.slvn.mms

Lewisham · on March 20, 2014

I'm quite a fan of Hello, but you need to explicitly turn off a "feature" that tells people you message you send it with Hello. I have no idea why they don't just charge a dollar for it.

hert · on March 20, 2014

My favorite is Textra. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.textra

tomkarlo · on March 20, 2014

I've been using "Hello" and it's quite nice as a basic / super-simple SMS app. Very minimalist, though.

Fishkins · on March 20, 2014

I used to use ChompSMS and liked it.