TextNow 101: Getting Started With Texting
In Part I, we looked at how to send and receive calls with TextNow. In this next instalment, we’ll look at the “texting” part of TextNow’s calling and texting app.
The main page of the TextNow app is called the Conversations page. Think of it as the home page of TextNow — it’s the screen that will open by default, and has your recent messages, call history and voicemails.
While our app is pretty similar between the Android and iOS versions, there is a key difference in how you start a conversation. On either platform, tapping the new message button will open a new Conversation page:
For iOS users, tap the button in the top right hand corner. For Android, tap the button in the bottom right. Both of them have pencils on ’em, although we do not recommend you use an actual pencil to write a new text on your smartphone screen. That would be crazy.
Once you’ve tapped that new message icon, here’s what your fresh, shiny new conversation page looks like. (For simplification, I’ll be using the Android version as an example from here on out.)
If you’re texting somebody for the first time, enter their number in the Enter a name or number field. (If you’re texting a TextNow user, you can use their TextNow username instead of their phone number.) To text somebody from your Contacts list, tap on the person icon to the right of the name/number field — that’ll bring up your Contacts app, and from there you can just tap on a contact to text them.
So far, so good! Right above the keyboard is where you actually type your message, in the field that helpfully says Type a message.
You can also send an emogi by tapping on the smiley-face icon, send a picture or video by tapping on the camera icon, and finally send a short voice note by tapping on the microphone icon.
Once you’ve started a conversation, that conversation will now appear on the main Conversations page, along with your call history and any voicemail messages you might have been sent.
You can delete conversations, voicemails and call logs from the Conversations page as well. Swipe left on the item you’d like to delete and then tap the red garbage-can icon, like this:
As you can see, you can also just swipe on any of those items to bring up the phone shortcut.
That’s all for our quick look at getting started with TextNow messaging. For further reading, check out our Support site, with more Getting Started articles, device manuals and Quick Start guides, help on managing your TextNow account, and loads of troubleshooting tips.
