Do you save your cell phone's text threads? Do you mainly use Whatsapp at this point?

[magnoliaparadise]

I have started to mainly use text when writing to friends - it's so easy to miss emails and I'm inundated by promotions and blog type emails.

More and more, the texts to and from my friends are pretty descriptive about what's happening in our lives and whole conversations. In the past, I've just erased all the texts every time I got a new iphone. This time, my phone is 2.5 years old and I just haven't gotten around to getting a new one - but I don't want to lose the texts on this phone!

I have a friend who uses Whatsapp and says that I'm an idiot for not texting all my friends through that since those texts can be saved (and can be typed on a computer board). I did try, but most of my friends seem to want to text on normal iphone text. They felt Whatsapp was for Europeans (which funny enough, that friend who is pushing Whatsapp is) and Europeans used it to keep in touch with people from home and make free calls. So that's what we do - continue to text through normal iphone, as clunky as it may be.

* If you have just normal texts on your phone, have you figured out an app or way to save them all - and maybe even make them more readable/accessible?
* Do you mostly use Whatsapp to text everyone? Or do you use old fashion iphone texting?

Thank you

[SnuggleBuggles]

I’ve never felt a reason to save texts. I use my iPhones basics text vs an extra app.
Why not set up a personal email address that you don’t give out to businesses or other entities that will overwhelm your inbox? I have an account that I know when it has a message, it’s a real message. :)


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[DualvansMommy]

I rarely ever save my texts. If I did, I shudder to think the storage memory it would take up in my phone! Not to mention, I hate visual clutter so seeing all those texts in my iMessage would drive me crazy.

To address your points; I actually use both. Regular texting for my local friends, family, the boys school moms, and anyone in the U.S basically.

If I wanted to save important info from anyone by text, I just screenshot and save it in my notes app. Worked well for me.

Whattapp is mostly European, Australian and Asian thing. I have tons of friends, Aunt/uncle and cousins that live in all those countries. We use it extensively. It’s a great way for me to stay in touch and relevant in each other’s lives without running huge phone bills cuz international texting plan is often not included in my unlimited texting plan.

So for you, perhaps switch to a new web based free email. Give that new address to friends and family where you want to save conversations and info? Otherwise you really can’t force whattap on people who don’t want to have it as their app.


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[WatchingThemGrow]

Not sure what you mean by saving texts? I don’t delete them(?) so I yes I save them???

DH and I use WhatsApp. He prefers it bc he can keep a window open at work and text me through that during the day and from his android. I like that it’s not in my regular text app bc I wouldn’t want to accidentally send a message meant for him to someone else.


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[marinkitty]

I don't save my texts but I don't delete them either so they go back a long way on my iPhone. When I got a new phone last summer I think my texts transferred over? Not positive but I feel like some of my threads pre-date my new phone.

I use Whatsapp with my Portugal friends and with family and friends whenever I'm traveling out of the country and we have a few groups that use it but mainly I just text with US friends.

[ahisma]

I save texts with clients (who I wish wouldn't communicate via text, but whatever...)

I use an iPhone and can send iMessages and texts via my macbook. I greatly prefer that over typing with my thumbs.

[jgenie]

I don’t delete my text messages. I find I go back and refer to things from time to time so I just keep them all. I’m slowly making my way through emails and pics and deleting things and expect I’ll do texts eventually.

[hillview]

I keep them all. After my dad died I found an app to export them to save offline.

[MSWR0319]

Friends that I text regularly I don't delete just because we text so often. All other texts, I will go through my phone every so often and delete anything that doesn't have something I need info from. DH uses Whatsapp to communicate with coworkers who are in Europe or Asia.

[khm]

I do not use WhatsApp. The only folks I know that do have international needs for it. I did check it out way back when for my daughter's iPod Touch, but didn't like something about it that I cannot recall.

I ended up going with Google Voice for the Touch and eventually used it myself.

I use the regular Messages app on my Android. The texts do come over when I get a new phone, but at some point I think they start deleting the oldest stuff to make room.

But, that Google Voice attached to my cell number, lives in the web and doesn't care what device is used to log into it. There is a Google Voice app on my phone that basically mirrors everything on my Messages app. It also has voicemail. I do use Google Voice's Voicemail because I hate Sprint's voicemail.

Online at https://voice.google.com I can see all my voicemails going all the way back to when I attached my cell # to it. I can search for old texts, etc.

I can also see texts and send texts from there if I forget my phone. Kinda like iMessage if you have an iPhone and an iMac.

A sneaky use for it is I have attached my kids' phone numbers to it so I can monitor their texts when they were new phone users. I just used a new gmail account and can log in to the Voice site with that and check they aren't doing anything inappropriate when they were young.

[magnoliaparadise]

I do not use WhatsApp. The only folks I know that do have international needs for it. I did check it out way back when for my daughter's iPod Touch, but didn't like something about it that I cannot recall.

I ended up going with Google Voice for the Touch and eventually used it myself.

I use the regular Messages app on my Android. The texts do come over when I get a new phone, but at some point I think they start deleting the oldest stuff to make room.

But, that Google Voice attached to my cell number, lives in the web and doesn't care what device is used to log into it. There is a Google Voice app on my phone that basically mirrors everything on my Messages app. It also has voicemail. I do use Google Voice's Voicemail because I hate Sprint's voicemail.

Online at https://voice.google.com I can see all my voicemails going all the way back to when I attached my cell # to it. I can search for old texts, etc.

I can also see texts and send texts from there if I forget my phone. Kinda like iMessage if you have an iPhone and an iMac.

A sneaky use for it is I have attached my kids' phone numbers to it so I can monitor their texts when they were new phone users. I just used a new gmail account and can log in to the Voice site with that and check they aren't doing anything inappropriate when they were young.

Wow - thanks for this. I'm not sure I fully understand it, but will check it out. Did you also have access to the kids' texts? I might get this and, when I give my kids a phone, tell her that I can read it all on another site - at least until she is older/more mature/more responsible. I have heard so many awful stories of things going around schools (someone saying that they want to commit suicide publicly and kids don't help her/him (and sometimes do the opposite), someone fat shaming a girl and it goes viral) and none of the other students say a word and the parents are clueless until someone spills.

[magnoliaparadise]

I keep them all. After my dad died I found an app to export them to save offline.

That's so great that you found that app and saved stuff from him and others. Do you know what the app is called?

[khm]

Wow - thanks for this. I'm not sure I fully understand it, but will check it out. Did you also have access to the kids' texts? I might get this and, when I give my kids a phone, tell her that I can read it all on another site - at least until she is older/more mature/more responsible. I have heard so many awful stories of things going around schools (someone saying that they want to commit suicide publicly and kids don't help her/him (and sometimes do the opposite), someone fat shaming a girl and it goes viral) and none of the other students say a word and the parents are clueless until someone spills.

I did. All I had to do was log into voice.google.com on my computer, using their gmail (that I made and they didn't know). Their texts were mirrored into that site.

It is confusing. Basically, you have to A) get a kid-gmail account. B) attach Google Voice to their existing phone #.

Now, there are a million other things to worry about, but back then, texting was about all they had on their phones. Now, I don't think they text much anymore in favor of all the other social media apps/channels.....

[robinsmommy]

I would not use WhatsApp, or a Google app for texting, for privacy reasons. Facebook owns WhatsApp. Facebook is now looking at targeting medical ads to Facebook users - how do you think they will manage to target them? That information will come from somewhere....ditto with Google.

Zuckerberg really doesn't get it. Or he does and doesn't give a !@#%.

[elbenn]

I did. All I had to do was log into voice.google.com on my computer, using their gmail (that I made and they didn't know). Their texts were mirrored into that site.

It is confusing. Basically, you have to A) get a kid-gmail account. B) attach Google Voice to their existing phone #.


So any regular gmail account won't work? Why does it have to be a kid account?

[khm]

So any regular gmail account won't work? Why does it have to be a kid account?

Because my account is used for MY Google Voice since I use it to "backup" my texts and to be able to text from a computer.

The kids' accounts had to be separate. If I log into Google.voice.com with me @ gmail.com I see my texts attached to my phone #. (Same way that I'd see my calendar if I log into calendar.google.com or my drive at drive.google.com).

To see DS and his phone #, I need to log in with DS @ gmail.
For DD and her phone #, DD @ gmail.

It's like logging into 3 different accounts.

If you want to hook up a Google Voice to one kid's account and that's it, then yes, you can use your account for that.

ETA - I think I'm being super confusing! :) It doesn't have to be a "kid account". Just in my case, any separate account since I also have my own Voice account.

It could have been any separate throw-away gmail, just had to be different than mine.

For me, I did make gmails for each kid basically using their name, because it was easier to keep track. Now that they are older, they do actually use them. They also have school-issued gmail accounts for their school google docs, etc. They can easily navigate back and forth between the two.

[hillview]

That's so great that you found that app and saved stuff from him and others. Do you know what the app is called?
Sorry I do not but I can look and see if I have any record of it

[marymoo86]

I use Google Hangouts but I also have Project Fi as my cell service and it does what Whatsapp.does based on the comments.

[elbenn]

ETA - I think I'm being super confusing! :) It doesn't have to be a "kid account". Just in my case, any separate account since I also have my own Voice account.

It could have been any separate throw-away gmail, just had to be different than mine.



Got it. This makes sense. Thanks for explaining.

[JElaineB]

I have a cheap Android phone but I was easily able to transfer text messages from my previous cheap Android phone to this one when I first got it. If that not possible on iPhone? I don't use WhatsApp but I do use Facebook Messenger for a lot of people. It is similar in that I can use it at work during the day without having my phone out.