Textor started as a proof-of-concept for a very common use case for landmarks - simple sharing of location through SMS. Since then we have been adding new features and streamlining the existing ones. A while ago we finally got to the todo-item “give it a great look and feel”. Making the app look great also makes the application easier to use through more consistent use of colors and other visual clues. And many of the changes that first seem purely visual actually make a big difference in usability.

Here’s how Textor now looks, in version 1.5.0:

The new look of Textor

The most important usability improvement is in the text editor and message list. When you are composing a message, you often want to check back on the previous discussion in the thread. With the new Textor, when you scroll through the thread, the editor scrolls with the message list: You have the full screen available for skimming through earlier messages. This makes a huge difference, especially so if you are writing a long message.





Scrolling in the editor and message list

Delivery reports in Textor also have great usability: They are indicated by a symbol to the right of the sent message, and the symbol changes immediately when the message is sent to the network, and once again when it is received.

Delivery report states for a message being sent



In the Inbox view, or thread list, we used to have a full sized “New message” list item, which took up the space of one thread. This has been replaced with a smaller compose button in the upper right corner, allowing for one more thread to be shown. One may think that such a small button is hard to press, but this is not the case: The clickable area for this button is much larger than the button itself, making it very hard to miss.

Compose button hot area



The combination of many small excellent details like these make the new version of Textor feel very good - to the level that the users mood also improves :). And of course it still has all the good old features:

Schedule messaging - also with location updates

Automatically location to messages

Cool voice announcement when receiving SMS

Easily add contacts to messages

Start calls directly from Inbox or compose view Android Market You can download your copy from Google Play , or update your already installed Textor via Play Store on your phone to enjoy the best and prettiest SMS editor in the world.

Update April 25, 2012: We just released version 1.5.1 which fixes problems with contact names and images on devices with Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0).