lrrs
lrrs HalfDork
1/22/21 9:58 a.m.

I dont seem anything like this available for free, why cant I plug my phone into my PC and use its functions vai the PC ?

Example,: although we have about 5 company provided IM apps in use (a pain in itself as everyone is on a different one) there are several co workers, including my boss that while sitting in front ot their work PC insist in using their cell to text my cell.

Some times I have my head down and I am cranking away on my PC and dont see their texts, and other times when I need them, I need to grab my phone to do so.  

I would love to plug in the usb cable to my phone, and test from a real keyboard and monitor, and not pay a monthly fee to see what I am already paying for on another screen.

I don't need another text option, just get the and send texts from my current phone number on my PC. 

Does this exist, and if it does not, why ? I don't see why it does not come with your smart phone package, it would be another great way for companies to spy, um collect data.

Mr_Asa
Mr_Asa UltraDork
1/22/21 10:03 a.m.

If you use Google Messages as your text message app you can do that via https://messages.google.com/

Apple, you're SOL with that unless you're on all Apple products

ebelements
ebelements Reader
1/22/21 10:04 a.m.

If you have an iphone and a mac, you can use apple's built in "messages" desktop app in that manner.

If you have an android, you can use google's "messages for web" which links to your phone via a QR code and ends up working in about the same way.

Both free. 

edwardh80
edwardh80 Reader
1/22/21 10:07 a.m.

In reply to lrrs :

I used an App called Vysor in the past a few times but found it to be not much more convenient than just using my phone. The most annoying part each time you plug in a USB cable you then need to tell the phone what access I wanted to allow the PC to have. I wish it would just link via bluetooth or wifi and I could just use whichever was most convenient at that moment.

Webpage with some other suggestions

ProDarwin
ProDarwin MegaDork
1/22/21 10:12 a.m.

Yes, messages.android.com.  No need to plug anything in.  This used to be better via hangouts, but of course google stopped supporting that.  Its just like the phone except 1) you can't search your messages (WTF) and 2) you can type a billion times faster

My understanding is that if you have Apple you can only text to other apple users, not true SMS which is device agnostic.

1988RedT2
1988RedT2 MegaDork
1/22/21 10:24 a.m.

I understand AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) is the current state of the art.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AIM_(software)

Edit:  Oh, shoot!  It's been discontinued, along with ICQ?

lrrs
lrrs HalfDork
1/22/21 12:03 p.m.

In reply to ProDarwin :

Had to get the app on my phone, but it worked, mostly, my most recent test is not appearing. To bad for them....I wish.... he is one of the key players I often need info for and never signed into or using any of the company provided apps. Guess I will need to watch my phone for a while and see if his future ones show up.

 

Once again GRM message board to the rescue ! 

Thanks all !

Curtis73 (Forum Supporter)
Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) MegaDork
1/22/21 12:26 p.m.

messages.google.com

That gets me all my SMS (send and receive) on my PC.  It works by being on the same wifi, so you have to set it up for each computer/wifi that you want to use it on.

 

ProDarwin
ProDarwin MegaDork
1/22/21 12:27 p.m.

FWIW, I feel your pain.  Our company has a number of communication programs, but is consolidating to a single one for the future.  There are a lot of people who are slow to adapt and do stuff like text me, or have a 'chat' through email, which results in a billion messages in my inbox, etc.  I try and communicate with people via our standard software (O365) and half of them are not online.  

Its frustrating.

I do keep messages open in a tab on my browser, but thats just for dealing with non-work people.  I never text from my actual phone if I am near a computer.

ProDarwin
ProDarwin MegaDork
1/22/21 12:27 p.m.
Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:

messages.google.com

That gets me all my SMS (send and receive) on my PC.  It works by being on the same wifi, so you have to set it up for each computer/wifi that you want to use it on.

 

You don't have to be on the same network.  Your phone can be on cellular and your computer connected via ethernet and its fine.

Curtis73 (Forum Supporter)
Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) MegaDork
1/22/21 12:28 p.m.

Windows also has a program that I forget, but it basically links your entire phone to PC - photos, txt, other notifications.  It basically mirrors your phone to the PC.  Lots more functions, but I found it to be glitchy and not compatible across a wide range of apps.  For instance, Viber didn't send, FB messenger was really slow to receive, and photos took a long time to synch.

Curtis73 (Forum Supporter)
Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) MegaDork
1/22/21 12:30 p.m.
ProDarwin said:
Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:

messages.google.com

That gets me all my SMS (send and receive) on my PC.  It works by being on the same wifi, so you have to set it up for each computer/wifi that you want to use it on.

 

You don't have to be on the same network.  Your phone can be on cellular and your computer connected via ethernet and its fine.

Must be an update I don't know about?  Mine is specifically wifi only.  I keep them both connected to my 2.4G wifi but sometimes my phone connects to the 5G and it all stops.  "Can't find phone, make sure connected to wifi"

Edit... to be clear, it doesn't have to be wifi, but they have to be connected to the same network.  I could wifi the phone and LAN the computer, but it has to be the same AP for me.  I can't use cell data, it has to be via my local network

Dieselboss15
Dieselboss15 Reader
1/22/21 12:46 p.m.

whatsapp web seems to work pretty good...

ProDarwin
ProDarwin MegaDork
1/22/21 1:23 p.m.
Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:
ProDarwin said:
Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:

messages.google.com

That gets me all my SMS (send and receive) on my PC.  It works by being on the same wifi, so you have to set it up for each computer/wifi that you want to use it on.

 

You don't have to be on the same network.  Your phone can be on cellular and your computer connected via ethernet and its fine.

Must be an update I don't know about?  Mine is specifically wifi only.  I keep them both connected to my 2.4G wifi but sometimes my phone connects to the 5G and it all stops.  "Can't find phone, make sure connected to wifi"

Edit... to be clear, it doesn't have to be wifi, but they have to be connected to the same network.  I could wifi the phone and LAN the computer, but it has to be the same AP for me.  I can't use cell data, it has to be via my local network

If my phone goes off wifi, I see this, but it still works.  They can be on any networks.  Pre-covid I used the web app all day at work and I can't connect to wifi in the office, so that was 100% cellular.

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