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Messaging app alternatives to sms/mms, are you using them?

WhatsApp, Kik, Snapchat, Hangouts, iMessage, Facebook Messenger, etc. It seems like every other month a new messaging app is coming out for smartphone users. I have to admit, I never have tried using either of them to communicate with friends beyond Hangouts because almost everyone has a GMail address.

I think it's pretty safe to say as smartphones continue to enter the younger crowd there is more and more of a push away from SMS. However, for some of us, moving off of SMS may be difficult regardless of how much of a rip-off they are.

If you've moved away from traditional SMS, what are you using and how did you convince people to switch with you?

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I use whatsapp
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I also do not use a lot SMS, I Prefer google hangout, but yeah, still got some of my frineds using SMS. But there are also viber text and of course WhatsApp.
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What's so great about WhatsApp?
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  • Free, and not all countries get unlimited SMS packages.
  • You don't need to get other contact information, like you do with other messengers, like an email address or their Facebook or something. This goes based on your phone number. This makes it MUCH closer to an SMS replacement than most the alternatives.
  • Great and fast support, not that it's needed since they fix bugs before you get the chance to notice them.
  • Excellent group chat support.
  • A sort of media gallery of shared pictures/videos per contact or group.
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75% of my texting/messaging is still done through SMS. I do not have many, how can I put this, tech savvy friend. They wouldn't know about half the stuff they do if it wasn't for me mentioning it at one point. Hell they're still fascinated with Google Drives collaborating tools when I show it to them. I imagine I'll be stuck on SMS for a while no matter how much I want everyone to switch to Google Hangouts or Kik lol.
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I use Google voice as a secondary until they get mms working.
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I basically just use Google Hangouts now. Prefer GTalk to SMS, but a lot of people I know still use SMS, so I am forced to use it as well.

One nice thing about SMS is that it uses the Voice, not data, channel. So if you have voice but no data, it still works.
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I use primarily SMS/MMS since I've got those free for the majority of my contacts.
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Combination of iMessage and Google Hangout for me. Facebook Messenger ends up being a bunch of crazy people from a past life IMing me to chat about what we've been doing since we last saw each other 15 years ago.

But yeah, very rarely will I use SMS. This only happens if we have a group text with people on different services.
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In the Middle East, WhatsApp is almost universally considered as the new SMS. It's the standard around here and no one sends SMS anymore. I honestly don't know anyone here who still sends/receives SMS.

I do, however, also use Facebook Messenger and Hangouts for other purposes: FB for people whose phone numbers I don't have and Hangouts for when I'm on a computer and can't be bothered to type on my phone.
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iMessage: Almost everyone I still text now uses iMessage. That switch was great because then when I'm on my computer or other Apple device, I can reply from there instead of having to always type on my tiny phone screen keyboard.

Facebook: For group messaging, I still get roped into Facebook messaging. I have a few friends that use this for talking to many people who don't all necessarily know each other for making plans.

Couple: This is an app my boyfriend and I use, and like the name says, it's made for couples. We can text, draw pictures, send cute stickers, send photos or videos to each other. It's great for long distance or if one person is traveling.
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I hate to say it, but I still rely a bunch on sms. Its the best cross-platform messaging service that is guaranteed to reach your intended recipient's phone.

The next closest alternative I use is facebook messenger, because a lot of people have accounts that are linked to their phones, and I can use it no matter if my sim card happens to be in an android phone, a windows phone, a blackberry, or an iOS device. For someone like me with multiple phone ADD like I have, having this as a constant between platforms is nice.

Now I am also still using Hangouts and BBM. I wasn't too enthusiastic about hangouts at first but its grown on me. BBM lets me keep in touch with my friends still working at RIM..err..BlackBerry and a few others. Neither of these is across every platform though so I like it less.

I will always be attached to sms in some form or another. For people with flip phones, like my mom, I will always need to receive and send them. I can't completely cut them out

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I use Facebook allot, but I also use Google Voice.
Most people I know still texts, and Google voice is the easiest way for me to contact them.
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I didn't convince people to switch away, they just don't message me via SMS anymore! I have maybe 1-2 people who still text, and anyone else either uses Facebook, Hangouts, or.. they email! I'm actually surprised that (in my experience) email seems to be making a (small) comeback. It's probably out of a desire to easily archive, or maybe just an innate hatred of Facebook and Google.
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