Software : In Depth: Best SMS text messaging apps for Android

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In Depth: Best SMS text messaging apps for Android Posted: 5 great SMS alternatives to Google Hangouts It's all very exciting having the latest version of Android install itself on your mobile, but what happens when it makes changes you don't actually like? That's the situation owners of phones like the Nexus 4 and Nexus 5 found themselves in recently, as Google's exciting new Android 4.4 KitKat release arrived – and forced upgraders to use Google's own Hangouts app as the default SMS app. Aside from no one really liking being told what software they have to use, the change was also a bit unsettling. The SMS tool is one of the most basic, reliable and unchanged features of any phone, with even the most backward of tech users usually able to work out how to send a simple text message. But in Hangouts? Even experienced smartphone users struggled to work out how to send a simple text. Not only that, the term 'hangout' is a dreary, predictable piece of brainstorming nonsense. So if you fancy rebelling against Google's forced use of the Hangouts app and going your own way, here are five alternative SMS apps to install and bring texting back to basics on Android. 1. Hello SMS Plenty of customisation options await in this Android SMS app, with Hello SMS letting users choose if they want a standard notification or the entire screen to light up when messages arrive. Plus there's a night mode layout option with a dark background to supposedly save your eyes and battery when texting late. The design is pretty jazzy, with a list of SMS threads down the left, plus a wider layout when viewing your texts in landscape mode. Replies are threaded, albeit in a subtle, bolded highlight way, and it's a fast, simple app to open and use. A long-press on the message icon lets you delete an entire conversation, while the attachment option is a swish combined gallery and camera app, splitting the screen between existing shots and a viewfinder for capturing and attaching live shots. View this app on the Play Store 2. Handcent SMS Handcent's been around for a long time on Android, and it shows. The design's not particularly thrilling, offering a white and blue colour scheme that looks like it's been ported from iPhone. Still, beneath the clunky layout there are absolutely stacks of features in Handcent, with this texting app letting users add doodles to messages as image files, attach screen captures of the phone's display, spellcheck messages before sending and, if you have a clear non-regional accent, input text via Google's speech-to-text tools. The sending of messages can even be scheduled, if you need to establish a watertight alibi. It's a proper hardcore texting app for people who use their 3,000 SMS allowance each month. View this app on the Play Store 3. EvolveSMS EvolveSMS goes all-out on design, with a stylish layout that incorporates a swish landscape option, multiple font and text size options, Emojis and more. A nice pop-up reply box makes responding simple, plus there's a pattern lock and the ability to set some conversations to private while leaving others unrestricted, and a choice of Home screen widgets. You can also snooze incoming text message notifications for a set period of time, in the unlikely event you've got something better to do than look at your portable telephone. And as nice as it looks, the appearance can further be amended by installing themes and other customisation packs. View this app on the Play Store 4. Textra SMS Textra bravely claims it's a "beautiful" texting app, and, if you like Android's old grey, boxy layout, it probably is. To make it less pretty there's a custom Textra Emoji plugin that can be downloaded for free, if you like expressing yourself via silly emoticons, plus there's a built-in audio recording tool, for sending people clips of you speaking when typing's too much of a chore. In terms of customisation, there's much to play with. It supports pop-up message notifications, the changing of the notification LED colour (if your phone supports it), with users also able to customise the pulsing of the notification vibration – for the ultimate in stealth text alerts. View this app on the Play Store 5. TextSecure TextSecure has a bigger selling point than the rest: security. On a basic level it restricts Android from taking screengrabs of messages, plus, if you demand more control and reassurance that the wife/government isn't reading everything you say, there's the option of locking the app down with a passphrase. And, for yet more protection, conversations between two users can be kept private with end to end encryption. In terms of customisation, TextSecure delivers some fun consumer toys, with SMS delivery report tools, LED colour and blink pattern toggles for at-a-glance notifications, enter key modification and more. View this app on the Play Store

Instagram Android app gets first major makeover in nearly 2 years Posted: In its first major visual overhaul since it launched in April 2012, the Instagram app for Android is sporting a cleaner look and faster feel, one that elevates the 'gram's game on Google's mobile OS. "We wanted to focus in on our Android users," Phillip McAllister, engineering manager at Instagram, told TechRadar. "Android is a first-class citizen for us and we wanted to provide a better design." This means a faster, richer Instagram Android app, one designed for the Google-powered operating system that stays true to the photo sharing service. "This new design is both uniquely Android and uniquely Instagram," McAllister said. "It's more in harmony with the Instagram platform and will have the familiarity Android users enjoy." It's also about giving a nod to the blossoming global market; according to Instagram, more than 60% of its users are located outside the US. Almost half of its overall users come by way of Android. By paring the app down, including chopping its size by half, Instagram aims to make it chummy with the wide array of Android devices used in regions around the world. What's new with Android's Instagram Users will notice a crisper, more streamlined look to the Android app. The redesign has extended down to the fonts and icons, giving the overall app an up-to-date appearance. Don't look for a host of new features here - this overhaul is all about capturing greater visual appeal and keeping most of the app's functionality intact. Though McAllister said the company strives to keep its Android offering on par with its iOS counterpart, there's undoubtedly some design carry-over from the Apple version, which saw its own overhaul late last year. For one, the blue orb that lets users take a picture in Camera in the iOS app is now beaming for all droids to see. It has a bit of a twist on the original monotone blue circle, as do some of the other rejiggered icons, but the overall look of the Camera UX is in line with iOS. For McAllister, the most noticeable changes are to be found in the Camera and Sharing screens. The makeovers allow for more room for the Camera's tools, and make "better use of the screen space for richer and fuller photos." The changes aren't limited to the Camera layout, though these are generally more subtle. Profile pages are largely the same except for a few design tweaks, namely the disappearance of dividing lines, and the Explore tab touts the app's new iconography. The Edit tab has undergone a tweak that sees all commands pushed to the bottom, leaving the photo to take up most of the screen space. Some fresh air was breathed into the Feed, though again the changes aren't radical (take a peek at the time-posted clock and colored hearts to see what we mean). Get up and gram Despite focusing on the app's aesthetics, there are some functional improvements as well. In addition to cutting its size down (amounting to faster download times and less space on storage-starved devices), the app will also now better fit varying screen sizes, whether large phablet or petite Mini, by self-identifying the display's dimensions and adjusting accordingly. Finally, the Android app is noticeably faster than previous iterations; McAllister said there's a 20% speed difference on some devices and the profile tab is capable of loading almost two times faster. "The feeling of the app is a lot faster," he said. The new look will be available in Instagram for Android version 5.1, and ready for downloading today in the Google Play Store. All you need is Android 2.2 and up to give it a whirl. Instagram recently revealed Direct, it's take on the same ol'

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