App of the day 7: Jelly SMS.

Aug 23, 2011 | iPhone apps, Technology | 1 comment

I’m sorry to say that this is the second app that’s specific to Irish iPhone users. Sorry about that but it’s an app that’s really worth writing about.

In Ireland we have quite good phone tariffs that provide a certain amount of voice, text messages and data depending on the tariff you choose. However, unless you’re on a customized plan or the company you work for provides you with a phone with a tariff that has been tailored to your business needs to allow you to freely or very cheaply call or text contacts outside Ireland, you will find that keeping in contact with friends or family abroad can be quite costly.

However, companies such as Vodafone and O2 provide an method that will allow you to freely text people outside Ireland using web based text services. Of course, that’s little good when you want to respond to a message someone sent you from England but you’re out for the night and by the time you get home you’ll probably forget to turn on the computer and sign into your customer portal. Of course, you can alternatively just use the web browser on your iPhone and sign in but you’re out to socialise, not to spend ten minutes signing into a website to send a quick text message.

This is where Jelly SMS comes in so useful. This app basically connects to your phone provider’s web text facility and sends text messages through this. This means that when using Jelly SMS you do not eat into the number of text messages provided monthly as part of your tariff. If your phone provider allows you to send text messages to international numbers from the web then you will be able to benefit from this using Jelly SMS also.

Jelly SMS will allow you to use the contacts on your phone so you will not need to create a web based contacts list or even worse, type in the number manually every time you want to send a text message from the web.

The app allows you to send pictures however this functionality is a little misleading. It uses something that SMS aggregators call MMS push. This means that the content is not sent directly to the recipient’s phone. Instead, a message is sent with a URL included. This URL when opened will show you the picture or sound clip that was attached to the message you sent using Jelly SMS. I’m not entirely sure if this is a limitation of Jelly SMS or the web text providers however it is something that should be more clearly documented in the app.

One great feature of Jelly SMS is its integration with maps. A few months ago I had no GPS solution with me but I needed to find a building in an unfamiliar part of Dublin. Using Jelly SMS I sent a message and included my location. When another iPhone user opened the message they were able to see my location with reasonable accuracy and provide me with specific instructions to find my intended destination. Of course, I doubt this is what the functionality was intended to be used for however it’s very helpful in certain situations.

There are two versions of Jelly SMS. The free version limits you to less than 161 characters in a text message as at the end of every message you sent it places a small advertisement in to say that the message was sent using Jelly SMS. The paid version does not include these advertisements and costs €3.99. The add-on to enable you to send pictures in messages was I think €1.79 however I’m guessing here. It may have just been €0.79 but I think I’m right with the larger amount. Of course, it should be kept in mind that this functionality is not what you might expect and does not actually send the pictures in the message. Considering this is a purchasable add-on I would hope that a more clear description is made available within the app of its limitations before consumers purchase it.

Overall, this is a very useful app. The price could come down a little and I would like to see more clear documentation within the app regarding limitations but it’s great at what it does and the developer has ensured flawless accessibility for Voiceover users.

1 Comment

  1. Carl

    The count down is on for the iPhone 5 release, please let it be soon

    Reply

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