About SMS Mobile App
SMS Mobile App is an Android-first SMS operations platform built and maintained by Ahsan Mahmood (aoneahsan@gmail.com). The product is intentionally send-only — it cannot read, receive, or act as default handler for SMS, and there is no iOS-native send path. Architecture: a React 19 + Vite web UI for job management, a Capacitor 8 Android app for native SMS dispatch, and Firebase (Firestore + Auth) for storage, scheduling, and security rules. Sending happens locally on the user's device via Android's SmsManager (silent flow) or a UI-prompted intent (visible flow); the SIM card is the user's. There is no Twilio or other cloud SMS gateway, no per-message fee, no shortcode infrastructure, and no third-party message routing. The volunteer device pool is opt-in (default on for signed-in users) — you can opt out instantly in Settings, and each device has a hard local quota.
Frequently asked questions
Who built SMS Mobile App?
Ahsan Mahmood (aoneahsan@gmail.com), a developer based in Pakistan. The app is a personal/community project distributed free of charge.
What does "send-only" mean?
The app uses only the SEND_SMS permission. It cannot read your inbox, cannot receive SMS, and is not a default-handler messaging app.
How is this different from Twilio or Vonage?
Twilio routes through a cloud gateway and bills per message. SMS Mobile App routes through your phone's own SIM, so the recipient sees your real number and only your carrier's normal SMS rate applies.
Is there an iOS app?
No native send on iOS — Apple does not allow third-party apps to send SMS programmatically. The web UI is fully usable on iOS Safari for managing jobs.
Is the project open source?
Code lives at github.com/aoneahsan and the project is distributed free. Contributions and bug reports are welcome.