How To Schedule a Text Message to Send Later

Technology has become such an integral part of our lives that it can actually be overwhelming to keep up with everything. Yes, we have a calendar, email, and a constant form of communication with us at all times, but that doesn’t mean that we can keep up with every task, birthday, anniversary, or meeting on our agenda.

With new technology released every day, it would be nice if you could just set one thing and forget it. Fortunately, scheduling your text messages is an option for users on both Android and iOS platforms. Albeit, Android makes it much simpler than iOS, we will cover these options for you in this article.

Whether you want to schedule a message to send every year on someone’s birthday, or you want to sleep in while your boss thinks you’re working, it’s a useful function that can benefit you greatly.

We have been able to schedule emails for years in Outlook so it is only right that we can schedule a text message too. Keep reading to find the perfect solution for your texting needs.

How to schedule a text message on iPhone

Unfortunately, Apple doesn’t have a native scheduling function in its iOS. According to some app developers, Apple actually restricts the function entirely. You can schedule an SMS, but the app will only remind you to send it at an appointed time. We do have some apps and workarounds that will help you send your text at a scheduled time, just keep in mind, you’ll actually need to hit the “Send” button to do it.

Schedule Text Messages with Moxy Messenger on iOS/iPhone

The Moxy Messenger iPhone app is free to download from the App Store and offers a ton of neat features. From scheduling a text message with attachments to scheduling an email or social media message, this app “almost” has it all.

Install the app from the App Store and tap “Allow” so that it can access your contacts. Once you’ve done this simply add the contact or phone number into the designating box, schedule your message to send, and include the message you’re sending.

1. Install Moxy Messenger and launch it.
   
2. In the permissions window, tap “Allow” to let it access your contacts, then click on “Get Started.”
   
3. The Main Messages Page appears. Tap the ““ (compose icon).
   
4. Choose “Text Message,” “Email,” or “Social Media” (for messages), then select “OK” in the popup frame for permission to access your contacts.
   
5. Type/select the contact you want to message.
   
6. If you select more than one recipient above, a screen appears to upgrade. You can close it and choose one contact per message or sign up for the “Plus” version to bulk-message several contacts.
   
7. Adjust the “Schedule Date:” settings.
   
8. Type your message. You can swipe down above the top of the keyboard to hide it if desired.
   
9. Tap on “Save” in the top-right section of your screen.
   
10. A confirmation appears showing that your message was scheduled successfully.
    
11. The app returns to the main screen, showing you all your currently scheduled messages. Ensure that notifications are turned on or you won’t get the message reminders.
    
12. A reminder notification appears for the scheduled message. Tap on it to open it.
    
13. Your messaging app opens. Confirm that everything appears the way you want it, then tap on the “upward arrow” icon to send the message.
    

As long as you have the notifications turned on for Moxy Messenger, you will get an alert letting you know it’s time to send the message. Open the app, make your adjustments if needed, then send it. It’s that simple!

Using Siri Shortcuts

iOS has a unique ‘Shortcuts’ app that can help you with automation. The idea behind this is that you can tell Siri to send a particular message to someone and set it up beforehand. Unfortunately, you’ll still need to initiate the action at the time you’re ready to send it and it does take more time to set it up (based on our tests) that to simply ask Siri to remind you to send a text at a particular time.

There are some third-party shortcuts that you can add, but first you must go to the Settings on your iPhone and search for the Shortcuts sub-menu. From there, you’ll need to toggle on the option to trust unkown shortcuts.

Once you’ve added the scheduling shortcut of your choice, go back to the Shortcuts app (available for download from the App Store if it isn’t already available on your phone), and add it to your Siri shortcuts.

As stated previously, even with this added you will need to initiate the message before it will be sent.

How to schedule a text message on Android

Android is such a broadly used operating system that it’s actually up to the manufacturers to include the schedule text function. Samsung, for example, does offer the feature natively while the Google Pixel does not.

Depending on the model phone you’re using, you’ll need to use a third-party texting app to schedule a text. Android does make this a little simpler than iOS, so let’s review some apps that you can use to enable this feature.

Keep in mind, some of these apps will need to be the default messaging application on your phone, you can assign this in the Settings.

Textra

Textra is a free messaging application that gives users more functionality and customization options than most native messaging apps. You can download it directly from the Google Play Store and assign it as your default messaging app.

All you need to do once you’ve installed Textra and set it as the default app is click the timer icon at the bottom, set your date and time, type your message, and click the arrow icon to send.

If you choose to edit or delete it, simply tap the timer icon that appears next to your text to trash, copy, or edit your message.

Do It Later

Do It Later is an excellent app that’s available for free on the Google Play Store and worth using even if your phone has a native scheduling feature. What we really like about this app is that you don’t have to assign it as your default messaging application like with Textra and other third-party messaging services.

Not only that, but you can also schedule emails and other forms of communications giving you an all-in-one app experience.

To schedule messages, download the app, open it, and tap the plus “+” icon in the lower right-hand corner. Next, type in the name of the contact, the message you’re sending, and select the time you’d like it to send.

Do It Later does have some ads but not so many that you can’t operate the app proficiently. It will also need access to your text messaging app, contacts, and calling app.

Other neat features include the option to approve the message before the app sends your text (which is great if you have something on your mind but want to think about it before sending) and a sent notification. All in all, this is a pretty decent workaround for scheduling texts if you don’t mind a few ads.

How to schedule a text message with Samsung phones

If you use a recent Samsung Galaxy phone, the TouchWiz UI that comes installed has the ability to schedule SMS built-in. It’s a neat little tool that allows you to automatically schedule a text message to send later from within the text message app.

Usually, bloatware and bundled overlays are a pain and are quickly consigned to the trash. Samsung TouchWiz is actually pretty good. Scheduling a text message is one of the more useful functions this overlay has.

Many users have complained that they no longer see the option to schedule a text with newer Android updates. Former updates stored the function in a three-dot menu next to the text box. Today’s users will be happy to know that it still exists.

To schedule a text message with a Samsung phone open your text message app and select a contact, then follow these instructions:

Tap the plus “+” icon next to the text box.

Select ‘Schedule Message’ from the menu that appears.

Select the time and date and select Done.

Next, click “Done” and your message will send automatically on that date and time. Android 10 makes it super easy to edit and delete your scheduled messages as well. Here’s how:

Select the clock icon next to the text you’ve scheduled.

Select ‘Edit’ to make changes. You can also select ‘Send Now’ to bypass the scheduled time and send the text immediately or tap ‘Delete’ to remove the message altogether.

Once you’ve made the appropriate edits (whether to the text or the time), click the paper airplane icon to schedule the text again.

Know of any other decent apps to schedule a text message to send later? Know of a workaround that doesn’t require an app? Tell us about it below if you do!