I’m an early-to-bed, early-to-rise person. This means I often get text messages after I have gone to bed. While I see the message at 6 AM and want to reply, most people I know would be (understandably) annoyed to get a text notification at 6 AM. But if I wait for a more decent hour, odds are good that I will forget to respond entirely.
If that sounds familiar to you, I have good news. The native messaging apps on both iPhone and Android allow users to schedule a future time for a text to be sent. If you use a non-native messaging app for texting (or use Samsung’s SMS app), it may also have this feature, but the instructions below may not be helpful.
Android (Google Messages)
- Open the Messages app and type your message
- Instead of tapping, press and hold the send button
- A menu will pop up that allows you to choose a date and time (tap next if you are entering date and time separately)
- After the send time is chosen, tap the send button
The message will display a “scheduled message” label until it is sent.
This series of screenshots shows the process:
iPhone (iMessage)
*This feature is only available when sending to another iPhone user.
- Open the Messages app and type your message
- Tap the + button next to the text box
- Select “send later” from the menu
- Tap the blue date and time bar to set a date and time
- After the send time is chosen, tap the send button
The message will appear with a dashed line until it is sent.
Extra Credit
If you’re thinking, “I wish this were available for email,” you’re in luck! If you are interested in using this technique with Outlook or Gmail, the folks at Tech-Talk have put together step-by-step instructions for scheduling emails in written and video formats.
Summary
Scheduling the sending time of a text message can help you manage your communications workflow without recipients getting notifications during their off hours.
