Updated September 2026 · every app listing re-read on 1 September 2026, refreshing 1 review count and 1 rating
Most people never think about their texting app until they see a friend reply in bright purple bubbles with an alert tone that is unmistakably theirs. Textra is the app that makes that easy, and it has been the standard answer for personalising Android chats for years.
It is worth knowing what the trade is before you switch, because it has grown since this page was first written. Textra does not do RCS, the standard that now carries typing indicators, read receipts, high-resolution media and end-to-end encryption on Android. Its developer says so outright, and explains that the reason is not Textra's choice. That is a bigger deal in 2026 than it was in 2020. This page covers the customisation properly, and then that trade-off honestly, so you can decide rather than discover.
Textra if per-conversation colours and alert sounds matter more to you than modern messaging features, because nothing else makes them this easy. Stay on Google Messages if they do not, because Textra documents SMS and MMS only. Expect ads unless you pay $9.99 once. That purchase removes ads and nothing else, because Textra says every feature is already free. Data checked: 3 September 2026.
Still the personalisation pick
Textra SMS · 4.1 stars from 439,327 reviews · 10M+ installs · free, contains ads, one in-app purchase at $9.99 · by Delicious · version 4.86, released 28 July 2026 · Play listing · checked 1 September 2026
Plenty of texting apps promise customisation and then bury it three menus deep. Textra's appeal is that the options sit where you can find them, and that the app is still actively maintained rather than left to rot: version 4.86, released on 28 July 2026 according to the developer's own changelog.
The draw is how granular it gets. A soft teal bubble for your sister, a loud orange for the group chat, a calm grey for work, all at once, so a glance tells you who is talking before you read a word. Textra's own listing counts "180+ material design theme, bubble & app icon colors," alongside "21 text sizes" and "multiple font options." If you are comparing the field more broadly, our roundup of messaging apps for Android lines it up against the bigger names.
Two minutes, and nothing is lost
Install Textra, open it, and let it ask to become your default messaging app. That tap matters, because Android only lets the default app send and receive texts.
Your existing conversations appear straight away, because SMS and MMS messages live in the system message store rather than inside whichever app displays them. That is also why switching back later is painless: Android hands the texting role to the next app and the same history shows up there. It is the question people worry about most before switching, and it is the one with the least to worry about.
While you are in there, pin a couple of the people you text most to the top of the list. Two minutes of setup at the start saves fumbling later.
Where Textra earns its name
The global settings hold a theme with a wide colour wheel and a dark mode that is genuinely easy on the eyes at night. The choices that matter most, though, are per conversation. Open any thread, tap the menu, and you can set a unique bubble colour, a matching app bar, and a different notification sound for that one person. Textra's listing confirms the scope: you can customise "theme & bubble colors, signatures and notifications (icon shape, sound, privacy, reminders, and muting) per conversation as well."
Three more features earn their place. Scheduled send is built in, listed as "scheduled (future) SMS & MMS," which is useful for birthday messages that should land at a civilised hour. iPhone reactions arrive as actual emoji rather than a line reading Loved followed by your own text, and Textra says you "can also send reactions!" And you can swap the emoji style between Android, Twitter, JoyPixels and iOS sets, which sounds trivial until you are the only person in a group chat whose emoji look different.
The advice that actually makes this look good: colour-code by relationship, not by whim. Warm tones for family, cool tones for work, and the inbox stays readable at a glance instead of becoming a rainbow of noise. Keep signatures short, since a long one clutters every message you send. And resist stacking a loud bubble, a busy theme and a clashing emoji set on the same thread. One strong accent per conversation looks considered; three looks like a settings menu exploded.
The trade-off that has grown
This is the part that has changed most since Textra built its reputation, and it is the reason this page no longer recommends it unconditionally.
Textra's developer answers this directly on its own site, and the answer is more interesting than a simple no: "The RCS interfaces (APIs) on Android are currently only available for Google internally to use, no other third party developer has access. We are hopeful Google will make these RCS interfaces available in the near future to all developers (in the spirit of Android open source), so that Textra SMS can also offer RCS functionality."
So this is not a feature Textra declined to build. It is one no third-party developer can build, because Google has not opened the interface. Textra's own changelog, which runs back through years of releases to version 4.86 on 28 July 2026, does not contain the word RCS anywhere, which is consistent with a developer waiting on someone else. The same answer appears in Textra's knowledge base, so this is a settled position rather than an offhand remark.
On encryption the developer is equally blunt, and the reasoning is worth understanding. Asked whether Textra supports it: "Given Textra is an SMS app and the SMS protocol does not support encryption, then it's not possible." They then make the case for the trade: "The great thing about SMS is that you can text anyone in the world on any phone (even a super old Nokia phone) and it'll work. Otherwise the recipient would need to be using the same app as the sender." That is a real argument for SMS, and it is also a plain statement that nothing you send through Textra is encrypted.
What that costs you is documented, by Google. Its own RCS page describes the standard as one that "enables more dynamic and secure conversations than SMS and MMS," and lists what turning it on in Google Messages gives you: "Share high-resolution photos and videos," "Know when someone is typing," "Get read receipts," "Send messages over mobile data and Wi-Fi," "Rename, edit, and remove yourself from group chats," and "Keep your conversations secure with end-to-end encryption."
Read Google's encryption line carefully too, because it carries a condition people miss. The wording is end-to-end encryption "if you are communicating with another Google Messages user(s)." So the protection is tied to both people using Google Messages, not to RCS in the abstract. Switching to Google Messages does not encrypt your conversation with someone who has not.
Who should still pick Textra: anyone whose texting is mostly ordinary SMS, who values a distinctive inbox over typing indicators, and who is not sending anything they would mind being read in transit. Who should not: anyone who sends photos they want to arrive sharp, anyone in big group threads, and anyone who cares about encryption. That is a real choice rather than a bad app, but it is a choice, and the previous version of this page did not put it plainly enough.
What it asks for, and what it costs
Because Textra becomes your default texting app, it asks for what any SMS app needs: messages, contacts so it can show names and photos, and optionally phone and storage access for attachments. Those are reasonable for the job, and you can review them any time in Android's app settings. Nothing here is unusual, but it is worth remembering that an SMS app can read the channel your login codes and bank alerts arrive on, so this is a permission set to grant to an app you have reason to trust.
One correction to what this page used to say about the money. The free version shows an occasional ad, and the in-app purchase is $9.99. That purchase removes ads and nothing else. Textra is explicit: "All Textra features are free forever. Occasionally you'll see an ad, or you can choose to make a once only in-app purchase to remove ads forever." An earlier version of this page said the purchase also unlocked extra features, which is not what the developer claims, and would have had you paying for something you already have.
Two more limits worth naming. There is no built-in cloud backup, so if your message history matters, pair Textra with a backup habit of your own. And for comparison, the Google Messages listing carries no ads and no in-app purchases at all, so the honest framing is that you are paying $9.99 for customisation you cannot get free, not for an app that is otherwise better value.
If the trade does not suit you
Textra is the personalisation pick, not the only road to an inbox that suits you. If your circle leans on one chat platform, matching the crowd matters more than theming, and our guide to the best messaging apps for Android covers the popular options and how customisable each really is.
If privacy sits higher than looks, a leaner secure texting app suits you better, and our roundup of privacy-conscious SMS apps walks through the options. If what drew you here was the scheduling rather than the colours, that is built into Google Messages too and our guide to scheduling a text on Android covers it without changing app at all. And the wider communication hub rounds out how the rest of your phone keeps you in touch.
The choice comes down to whether you want an inbox that feels personal or one that carries every modern messaging feature. Textra is unusually good at the first and does not claim the second.
It is free, and the purchase adds nothing beyond removing ads. Textra's own listing says "All Textra features are free forever. Occasionally you'll see an ad, or you can choose to make a once only in-app purchase to remove ads forever." That purchase is $9.99. If you have read elsewhere that paying unlocks extra features, including on an earlier version of this page, that was wrong. Checked 19 August 2026.
No. SMS and MMS messages live in Android's own message store rather than inside the app that displays them, so your history appears in Textra as soon as it becomes the default, and reappears in whichever app you switch to next. The switch is reversible at any time with no export step.
No, and the developer explains why. Textra's site says "The RCS interfaces (APIs) on Android are currently only available for Google internally to use, no other third party developer has access," adding that it hopes Google opens them up "so that Textra SMS can also offer RCS functionality." So no third-party texting app can offer RCS today. If RCS matters to you, that settles it in favour of Google Messages. Checked 19 August 2026.
Google's own list is specific: high-resolution photos and videos, knowing when someone is typing, read receipts, sending over mobile data and Wi-Fi, renaming and leaving group chats, and end-to-end encryption. On SMS and MMS you get none of those, and photos in particular arrive noticeably compressed.
No, and its developer says it cannot be: "Given Textra is an SMS app and the SMS protocol does not support encryption, then it's not possible." They argue the upside is universality, since SMS reaches any phone. Google ties its own encryption to RCS chats "if you are communicating with another Google Messages user(s)." If privacy is your main concern, choose a dedicated secure messenger rather than any SMS app.
Yes, and it is the feature most worth setting up. Textra lists per-conversation customisation of "theme and bubble colors, signatures and notifications (icon shape, sound, privacy, reminders, and muting)." Hearing who texted without reaching for the phone is the small daily payoff that makes the app worth the switch for the people who like it.
Not on its own. There is no built-in cloud backup, so if your history matters, pair it with a backup approach of your own. This is worth thinking about before you switch rather than after, since it is the one thing that does not simply follow you between messaging apps.
Textra if a distinctive, colour-coded inbox is worth more to you than modern messaging features, since nothing makes per-conversation theming this easy. Google Messages if you want RCS, which means sharper photos, typing indicators, read receipts and encryption with other Google Messages users, and it costs nothing with no ads or purchases at all.
Checked 19 August 2026: this page was written in the first person plural around an origin story nothing can substantiate, including a friend's purple bubbles that supposedly "sent us hunting" and a setup we claimed to have worried about. All of it has gone, and every feature claim is now checked against Textra's own Play listing. Most of the substance held up: the per-conversation colours, sounds and signatures, the scheduled send, the iPhone reaction support and the clean handover when you switch default apps are all real and all documented by the developer. Two things were wrong. The page said the one-time purchase "unlocks a handful of extra flourishes" on top of removing ads; Textra's own listing says the opposite, that "all Textra features are free forever" and the purchase removes ads, so anyone paying for features was paying for nothing. It also described that purchase as low cost without naming it: it is $9.99. And the version was wrong twice over: the developer's own changelog shows 4.85 shipped on 14 May 2026 and 4.86 on 28 July 2026, so the current release is 4.86. One substantial addition. The previous version mentioned only the absence of end-to-end encryption; in 2026 the larger issue is RCS, which carries typing indicators, read receipts, high-resolution media and encryption on Android, and which Textra does not document anywhere. That is now its own section. A first pass of this rewrite framed it only as something Textra "does not document," having checked the Play listing and the knowledge base but not the developer's own site, where the question is answered directly: Textra says Android's RCS interfaces are "only available for Google internally to use, no other third party developer has access." So the page now states the position plainly and, more usefully, explains that no third-party texting app can offer RCS at present. The developer's equally direct statement that SMS encryption is "not possible" has been added alongside Google's description of what RCS provides. A comparison table against Google Messages, an "Our answer" capsule, a dated verification box and this changelog are new.
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