How to send and receive free text message (SMS) on 3G iPhone

by Leo Pang on 1228347806|%e %B %Y
rating: 1, tags: 3g free how-to iphone sms text

Introduction

AT&T used to bundle the some free text messages (SMS) on the 2G iPhone. They don't do that any more. You have to pay extra for SMS package. This doesn't really make sense, since you have paid unlimited data plan, which allows you to send and receive emails without additional cost. So, why pay extra for SMS? With the push email feature, you can actually send and receive free text messages from your email account on your iPhone. I posted another article showing a website to send free SMS on your iPhone, but problem of that method is that your SMS receiver cannot reply the SMS. The method explained here not only allows you to send free SMS to your friends, but also allows them to reply directly in their SMS box, and you will get a message and an alert instantly in your email box.

Steps

Open email and get into the compose screen on your iPhone
In the "To" field, put the following email address, replace "xxxxxxxxxx" with your friend's 10 digit phone number without space. Well, since most of your friends are customers of AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon. This shouldn't be a big problem for you.
Write your email, and click send.

Verizon: moc.txetv|xxxxxxxxxx#moc.txetv|xxxxxxxxxx
AT&T: ten.tta.txt|xxxxxxxxxx#ten.tta.txt|xxxxxxxxxx
Sprint: moc.scptnirps.gnigassem|xxxxxxxxxx#moc.scptnirps.gnigassem|xxxxxxxxxx 
T-Mobile: ten.liamomt|xxxxxxxxxx#ten.liamomt|xxxxxxxxxx 
Nextel: moc.letxen.gnigassem|xxxxxxxxxx#moc.letxen.gnigassem|xxxxxxxxxx 
Cingular: moc.emralugnic|xxxxxxxxxx#moc.emralugnic|xxxxxxxxxx 
Virgin Mobile: moc.lbomv|xxxxxxxxxx#moc.lbomv|xxxxxxxxxx 
Alltel: moc.letlla.egassem|xxxxxxxxxx#moc.letlla.egassem|xxxxxxxxxx 
CellularOne: moc.asuenollec.elibom|xxxxxxxxxx#moc.asuenollec.elibom|xxxxxxxxxx 
Omnipoint: moc.scptniopinmo|xxxxxxxxxx#moc.scptniopinmo|xxxxxxxxxx 
Qwest: moc.pmtsewq|xxxxxxxxxx#moc.pmtsewq|xxxxxxxxxx

Tips

You can save such email address in your contact as a "SMS Email" address for your friend, so that you don't have to type them in every time. Surprisingly, iPhone does have a "SMS Email" type that you can choose when you add an email address to a contact.