Apps and games from individual developers have their own charm, but few can match the features and overall polish of apps that are developed by companies, businesses and services.
And both of Microsoft’s flagship platforms — Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 — need both types of apps in plentiful amounts. While things are on the up for the company’s mobile operating system, Windows 8 still could use more official apps from companies.
One such app is TextNow. It allows users the ability to send and receive unlimited text messages within United States and Canada, free of charge.
More on that later, but here is the official description:
“TextNow gives you completely free and unlimited texting directly from your computer! This app helps you stay instantly connected to your friends and family across USA and Canada.
When you sign up, you are assigned a dedicated phone number with the area code of your choosing. You can use this number to send and receive unlimited texts within USA and Canada. You can also send and receive picture messages! Your friends and family don’t need to have TextNow, it works just like a normal phone.”
As noted above, the first thing you need to do when you launch the app is create an account, if you do not have one already. A Facebook account can be used, or a separate account can be created with the service directly.
You then get a unique TextNow phone number that your friends and contacts can use to text you. This free app can also be used to text any phone in the US and Canada.
The UI of this app is as Metro as they comes — simple, bright and modern — with emphasis on usability rather than design. It supports Windows 8 on all three types of processors, namely x86, x64 and ARM.
Click here to check out TextNow on the Windows Store.
All Comments
I’ve been using this for some time on Android and in my browser. It’s a very good service. I’m glad to see they’ve released an app for Windows 8!
Agreed! More quality apps like this will only solidify the Windows platform. This is in the upper-middle ground of mobile apps, and while I love well-made individual apps as much as the next guy (for the creativity, it nothing) these are the apps that bring value to a platform.
Windows 8 has been missing these upper-middle type apps for quite some time now. Change this, and there is not stopping it. Here’s to more such apps.
Hmmm … looks like a great app but I couldn’t get my own area code. Bummer! Then again, that might be a good thing. Hah!
LOL!