TextToCloud

Google Play Link

Overview

Send and receive texts from any computer with Internet access through your mobile phone without wires. There are a lot of SMS sync apps out there, but they suffer from one of three flaws:

• You have to trust a third party to store your texts and numbers safely on their servers
• You have to pay
• You have to be within Wi-Fi or Bluetooth range

With TextToCloud, you have freedom and security:

• Your texts and contacts are stored using your own web server (which are available very cheaply)
• The app and server is free (ok, ok, we have a Pro version..)
• The web interface works from anywhere; even if your phone is left at home.

Free Version Features

• Forward incoming text messages to your email
• Send text messages from anywhere with Internet access
• Fast! On average it takes 3-5 seconds
• Uses your phone to send and receive
• Leave your phone at home and still be able to send and receive texts
• Address book upload function
• Password security
• Uses your own servers for ultimate privacy:
• One single unencrypted PHP file contains all the SQL, CSS, PHP, and images needed
• Please be aware using this App still requires a level of technical skill (to create a database, configure a script, and upload it to a web server)

Pro Version Features

• Forward incoming text messages to database or as a HTTP POST request
• Send text messages from your application through a HTTP API
• UTF-8 compatibility
• Supports multi-part messages
• Extra security
• Saves a copy of sent items on phone
• Upgraded web console:
• View your Inbox
• AJAX notification when text is sent and delivered
• Supercharge mode where texts are sent with less delay (near instantly)

Compatibility

• Requires web hosting with MySQL, InnoDB, PHP, and mysqli
• Requires Android 2.1 or later
• Best suited for an always-on mobile data connection plan

Quick Start

1. Get a cheap web host that supports PHP and MySQL. Suggestion: 000webhost.com is free
2. Download the t2c.php file from here (zip)
3. Extract the zip file you just downloaded
4. Open the t2c.php file in Notepad, and configure the variables at the top. Suggestion: read the note next to each variable for more explanation
5. Upload the t2c.php file to your website e.g., use FileZilla to FTP upload t2c.php to http://yoursite.com/myphone.php
6. Install TextToCloud onto your phone using the Market/Google Play. Suggestion: Go Pro
7. Run TextToCloud on your phone, and enter the URL to the PHP file you just uploaded.
8. Click Connect Now button to start the service. Tip: TextToCloud will run on phone boot in the background. This is to keep a connection to your web server using long-polling in order to send texts sent from web interface.
9. Click Send Contacts Now button to upload your address book to the URL to save you remembering everyones numbers.
10. You can now send and receive texts from anywhere—even without your phone with you! Suggestion: Click the back button on your phone to exit the configuration and continue with using your phone as normal

If you get stuck, you could hire a JCIT engineer for a very modest fee. Most of the technical work will be done for you, and the rest you will be guided what to do over the phone. For more information, just email office@jcitbournemouth.co.uk stating you want TextToCloud installed for you and leave your contact information.

Fund-A-Feature

• View received texts on web interface
• Threaded messages with quick reply
• Use our server for quick set up
• Password protection
• Data encryption
• Option to use Google’s Cloud Push service instead
• Support Android 1.6+
• Reply to email – to send as text via your phone
• Support HTTP push notification for rule based – eg trigger one remote api when text starts with CODE
• MMS support
• Full AJAX web interface
• Remove or customise the signature that gets appended
• Counter to show how many characters remaining and number of text messages it will take to send
• Optional SMS delivery reports – reported through to the web interface
• Optional SMS sent reports – reported through to the web interface
• View and remove old texts from the database
• Automatic removal of sent tests from the database
• A copyrighted copy of the source code; the ultimate in privacy

Do any of the above features interest you? We offer a unique Fund-A-Feature method; pick any of the features above or suggest your own and we'll send you a quote at extremely reasonable rates. The catch is, all our Pro users will benefit from the new feature that you have funded. Pretty neat, huh?

Security Permissions

Your messages – receive SMS

Required to forward your incoming SMS to email.

Your personal information – read contact data

Used only when you press the ‘Upload Contacts Now’ button; to send your address book to your server.

Network communication – full Internet access

The only host TextToCloud will connect to is the URL you specify in the application settings.

Storage – modify/delete SD card contents

My app stores your server URL and password using the Android settings framework. I think this permission is due to that, but I did not set this permission explicitly.

Phone calls – read phone state and identity

I have no idea why this is listed, I didn’t explicitly set this, and my app does not read your phone/SIM serial or phone number. Can anyone explain why? Especially as this is the biggest security request of them all.

Services that cost you money – send SMS messages

This is so you can remotely send an SMS. No other SMS’s are sent other than the ones you send.

(Hidden) System tools – automatically start at boot

TextToCloud will run a small service on your phone at all times – so if you ever lose or leave your phone somewhere, you can use the web interface to send and receive text messages—at any time.