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Youth Are Awesome, commonly referred to as YAA, is a blog written by youth for youth. YAA provides the youth of Calgary a place to amplify their voices and perspectives on what is happening around them. Youth Are Awesome is a program of Youth Central.

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HomeUncategorizedMy App Drawer on the 'Droid: Textra

My App Drawer on the ‘Droid: Textra

The stock text messaging app is satisfactory, but free alternatives do exist for us Android users. I’m honestly not a big fan of using Hangouts as the default messaging app (and it’s the only one that comes installed on my Nexus 5).

On my hunt for a nifty new text messaging app, I came across Textra. The biggest strength of this app is how smooth and light the text messaging experience is; it’s neither choppy or laggy, so that’s already a good impression right there. Even better, this app comes with a Dashclock extension, so that’s another plus.

Textra goes further then being just a substitute then your stock messaging app, however, through it’s array of extra features; emoji support and GIF support, for example, are available through plug-ins. In my opinion, the best asset has to the quick compose and notification pop-up features that enables me to send text messages even when I’m not in the app. It doesn’t take much to conclude that I’m a texting addict, but those features aren’t enabled by default if you think they might be too intrusive for you.

In terms of themes, Textra does not offer that many appearance tweaks like it’s “sister app” ChompSMS, for example. There are just a few small things here and there like the chat bubble colour and the choice between light or dark mode that can be changed. I prefer leaving those pretty extras to the instant messaging apps though, so it isn’t a disadvantage.

No, it’s not a texting service like TextPlus. It’s just an alternative app to receive your normal SMS. I would say that this app’s buttery smooth performance is why I’m still at it. Get Textra on Google Play.

Textra4
The main interface under light mode.
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The same screen under light mode.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Emojis. <3
The useful pop-up feature.
The useful pop-up feature.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The quick compose mode under light mode.
The quick compose mode under light mode.
The same screen under dark mode instead.
The same screen under dark mode instead.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Settings, settings, settings.
Settings, settings, settings.
The ablity to change chat bubble colours is available.
The ablity to change chat bubble colours is available.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More tweaking.
More tweaking.
Textra14
Remember my Dashclock review?

 

Wentao
Wentaohttp://YouthAreAwesome.com/author/wentao
I could say I'm just another YAA contributor, but you don't want to underestimate the leadership power of all my fellow youth. From blogging, I've learned that writing is great, but it's versatility can only come when it provokes discussion and inquiry, and that's what we can collectively do best. I want to rather get to know your insights, so always feel free to shoot me comments here and there.
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