I’ve just entered the world of texting, and I’m annoyed by the fact that text messages are so ephemeral. I’d like to save all of them (incoming and outgoing) to my computer as a matter of course, but my phone won’t let me.
I’m on Verizon Wireless, and using an old and basic phone with no QWERTY keyboard and little memory. Verizon tech support says that there is no way to automatically save all texts, either for download from their Web site, or from the phone directly into a computer. The only option would be to forward every individual text to an e-mail address. Although possible, this would obviously be highly inconvenient.
I’m considering upgrading my phone, and want to know if 1) the rep I spoke to is right, or if there may be some way within the Verizon system to archive all texts to my computer automatically, or 2) if any other wireless providers or handsets provide this capability.
If saving those messages is important for you then maybe you should buy a new phone. All modern Nokias for example, even the cheapest models, can be hooked to a computer via USB and have SMS and contacts copied to the computer
Thanks, I thought that might be possible, although it’s less desirable than a Web-based option, since it requires regular action on my part, and could result in some data loss if I don’t download before the phone’s memory or message limit is exceeded.
My rather basic Nokia 3600 slide came with a 512 megabyte microSD card. You’ll need several thousands if not millions of text messages to fill 512 megabytes.
I THINK Google Voice will do what you want. You may or may not have to change phone numbers. Here’s a help topic on SMS to email…but you’ll want to poke around the help a little more to see if it’s something you’d want to use.
I used to keep all my texts… but I realized most of them are just junk. I go through about once every couple weeks and delete the ones that aren’t worth keeping… which is most of them.
LG UX440. I’m still playing around with its limited capabilities, and successfully sent a text to e-mail, so that’s my plan C: set up a special e-mail account just for texts.
I’m sort of a stickler when it comes to keeping records. I keep pretty much all my e-mails, since there’s basically no cost to do so, and I’d like to be as complete with texts, if I can do it easily and cheaply.
I found spy software that works on some smartphones, but it costs $50/quarter, more than I’m interested in paying for this function.
I am on Verizon Wireless. I have an LG NVTouch with an SD card. You can save only photos and sounds on the card, not contacts or text messages. My daughter’s LG Voyager works the same way. We had to have her phone replaced under warranty and the tech folks in the store said there was no way to save text messages on a card or to a computer, that the only option was to forward them to an email address. Carriers tend to have very similar feature sets across phone platforms so I doubt switching to a different Verizon phone would solve the problem, although the Droid may do it.
ETA:
That model is for GSM networks (who is your carrier?) so will generally have different types of features than those found on a Verizon Wireless phone.
The GQ having been answered, I hope a bit of IMHO is okay in the thread.
I think I’ve never sent or received a text that I would consider worth saving. It strikes me as the kind of thing texting just isn’t for. The kind of stuff I might want to archive happens in email.
Can I ask, what is it that you’re texting that you think you might need to refer back to in coming years?
I’ve started texting because I now have a special friend who prefers it to most other modes of communication. As such, these texts document the development of this new relationship.
