Microsoft SMS Organizer to Google Android Messages: Best text messaging apps for Android smartphones

Replace your boring default SMS application with these smarter and more productive third-party text messaging apps.

Best messaging apps for your Android phone. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Default SMS applications on most of the Android phones are really boring. With WhatsApp becoming the preferred mode for texting, SMSes are nowadays used for storing OTPs, promotional offers and alerts from the network service provider.

Fortunately, Android gives you the option to replace these boring default SMS apps with much better and feature-rich third-party SMS apps. Let's take a look at some of the best SMS apps for your Android smartphone.

Android Messages
Google's official application, Android Messages, is one of the finest third-party SMS clients. The app has been updated to function like WhatsApp and Apple's iMessage. It has a clean and easy-to-use interface. Just like WhatsApp Web, Android Messages lets you use the app on your desktop as well.

Apart from texts, the application allows you to send stickers, emoji, and even attach images. There's an option to send GIFs as well. Google's predictive 'Smart Reply' feature is also there. Android Messages is one of the few apps to support Google's new Dark Mode.

Microsoft SMS Organizer
Microsoft's SMS Organizer is one of the first applications to use machine learning models to automatically categorise messages into sections such as important and promotional.

The application also alerts users about the upcoming bill payments, movies, and even travel. You can favorite a message for quicker access. Other important features of this productivity-focused app includes blocking spams, mark message as promotion and personalise notifications for different kind of messages.

SMS Organizer, a Microsoft Garage Project, is a free app. (Microsoft)

SMS Organizer, a Microsoft Garage Project, is a free app. (Microsoft)

Microsoft has now added a new feature in the SMS Organizer to show the best offers within the inbox in a dedicated Offers hub. The app also shows offers depending upon your preferred services and categories.

You can also back up your SMS data on your Google account.

Truecaller for Messages
Truecaller, the popular caller ID application, comes integrated with a dedicated messaging client. The app provides a simpler view of the messages along with dedicated sections for texts from contacts, others, and spam.

Truecaller lets you make video calls (via Google Duo). You can also block contacts or mark a contact as a business or personal profile. Just like Microsoft Organizer, you can keep a back up of your messages along with calls on Google Drive.