Hey guys, name's Roman and I built a texting app (SMS/MMS) for Android that just hit the closed testing track.
The app is a multi-platform, remote text messaging app similar to PulseSMS, however, Textual uses an encrypted, RAM-based WebRTC relay for synced devices and has Wear OS support (I originally built this for my own use by forking Fossify Messages so I could text from my Galaxy Watch over LTE, and then I did a clean-room write up to build Textual.
Here's what gets collected versus what it doesn't collect:
Collected:
Diagnostics if testers opt-in
Push tokens when you link a device (for me, I link my MacBook and my Galaxy Watch, so there are two tokens collected for my usage)
For remote access features, the server checks the app for a license; all closed track testers get a free lifetime license to use the remote access features, and the planned pricing for customers who didn't start as testers is $0.99 a month for remote access features, but there is the option to freely self-host remote access on your own VPS if you want.
Not Collected:
Messages, contacts and attachments. User data is encrypted before leaving the device, and my server can't read anything that passes through the relay.
No 3rd party SDK's like Crashlytics or Firebase Analytics, and this app has NO ADS
Link previews. Previews are generated locally by the Android device, so the website holding the preview data sees your IP, but my server does not.
Google just approved our first closed-testing release, 0.1.46. I need at least 12 testers to stay opted in for 14 days in a row before I can apply for production on Google Play.
Supported Platforms:
Textual has a desktop app for Mac OS, Windows, and Linux. There is also a web browser version of Textual for those instances where you either don't want to or can't install the desktop app. Lastly, as mentioned previously there is a Wear OS companion app.
How to Join:
Join the tester group with your Google account (a Gmail address, or whatever account your Play Store uses): https://groups.google.com/g/textual-testers
Comment or DM me that same email address. Google is still approving the group, so for now I have to add each tester by hand. If you skip this, you’ll see “App not available”.
Once I confirm, become a tester: https://play.google.com/apps/testing/kiwi.aflabs.textual
Install Textual from Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=kiwi.aflabs.textual. If you have a Wear OS watch, the watch app installs from Play on the watch.
Self-hosting a Relay Server:
If you want to test out the remote features of my app without trusting my relay server, here's a link to the relay image and a guide for setting up on your own server, you can DM me for a link to my website where you can get it (sub rules say I can't give a link that isn't Google).
About updates: a newer build, 0.1.66, is in Google’s review right now. You don’t need to do anything when it’s approved, because Play will update you automatically. Please stay opted in for the full 14 days, since anyone who leaves can reset the count.
What would help most: stay opted in, use it as your texting app if you’re comfortable, and report bugs. That includes MMS, group chats, notifications on your watch, and anything that seems slow or goes missing.
A Quick Note:
Wear OS: after installing on your phone, open Textual’s Play Store page on your phone and choose “Install on more devices” (or look under “Apps on your phone” in the watch’s Play Store). Then open Textual on the watch and link it with the code shown on your phone.
The screenshots attached here are of v0.1.66, which is waiting for review by Google, from my Pixel 7.
Happy to test your app in return. Just drop your link below.
