Sending emails as text messages

Factual Questions
21

You can go in the opposite direction and sync your phone to your laptop using MS Phone Link. I compose lengthy text messages on my computer screen with a real keyboard. I’m sure there are other options besides MS.

22

I will draft a text message in email on my computer, send it to myself, open it in the email client on the phone and then copy and paste it to the text message client. Perhaps kludgy but it works for me.

23

Similar to Telemark’s idea, I use my laptop to send and receive messages
with WhatsApp. (You’d need to download the WhatsApp app !)

24

Why do you do this?

25

Because I’ve been typing on a typewriter/computer keyboard for far longer than I have on a smartphone screen.

26

I’ve done that too. Or sometimes I will ssh into my web server and type the message into a text file there, then access it via a browser on my phone. I can type on a real keyboard about 3x as fast I can type on the phone’s keyboard.

27

I envy those who are adept at typing on their phone screens.

28

But you can link your phone to your computer and type directly into the text app using your computer keyboard. No need to do those two extra steps.

29

How’d you do that ?

30
  • Android phone
    • Any device with a web browser (Mac, PC, Chrome book, IPad, etc.)
      • Use Google Messages as your text client, and Google Messages for Web
      • It can work with your home and work computer.
      • This works very well.
    • Windows 11
    • There are also a variety of other solutions from other third parties, but I’ve not used any of them in the years since Google Messages for Web came out, because it is free to use, and works so well.
  • IPhone
    • Mac—if you have a Mac just use iMessage on the Mac
    • Windows 11
      • Microsoft Phone Link
      • There are limitations, such as only sending SMS messages, and the phone must be paired with Bluetooth to your PC
    • non-Mac computer (Windows, Linux, etc.)
      • Bluebubble
      • AirMessage
      • Both of these require a Mac someplace, and are just remote control systems for controlling iMessage running on the Mac
31

As mentioned above I use MS Phone Link. Whenever my phone is in range of my computer it connects, and I have a window that allows me to compose, send, and recieve texts, view photos, and interface with other apps.

This is particularly useful when dealing with two factor authentication for something I’m doing on my computer. They send the code to my phone, it shows up on my computer screen and I can cut and paste it into the browser window that I’m using for banking or whatever.

32

Thanks for that !
I’ll try it tomorrow…

33

Yes, that (the shutting down of the service) was annoying. I had some use-cases for which text to email (and email to text) were convenient