Last year, Google announced a feature that allows you to schedule your messages for a later date and time.
If you know how to send a delayed text message on Android, you can be the first to send good wishes to friends and family on special occasions such as birthdays, wedding anniversaries, and others.
While the feature only works on smartphones running Android 7.0 Nougat and above, there are various third-party apps on Google Play Store with a simple procedure on how to send a delayed text message on Android.
How to send a delayed text message on Android phones
Here are the steps for sending a scheduled text message on Android with Google Messages:
- Launch the Google Messages app
- Start a conversation, type your message but don’t send it yet
- Touch & hold the Send After a few seconds, the Schedule send menu will show up
- Choose date and time from the suggestions
- If you choose your own date and time, a calendar will appear, and after selecting a date, a clock will open to choose a time; tap the clock icon and set the time
- Tap Next
- Hit Send. A clock icon will now appear that shows you’re sending a scheduled text
You’ll see a “Scheduled message” notification when you open a conversation with a scheduled text message. If your Android device isn’t connected to data or Wi-Fi at the scheduled time, the SMS will be sent when next the Internet is on.
How to send a delayed text message on Android with other apps
On the Play Store, there are different third-party messaging apps for sending scheduled text messages on Android. In this guide, we’ll be looking at these two alternatives: Pulse SMS, Telegram, and IFTTT.
Sending a delayed message with Pulse SMS
- Open Pulse SMS
- Press the orange “+” button and select the contact you want to message
- In the top-right of the conversation window, press the More option, the three vertical dots icon, and tap Schedule a message
- On the calendar interface, set the date and time
- Type your message and hit the Add button to schedule Send
- Press Scheduled Messages to view, edit, or delete a scheduled SMS in this app
- Choose the conversation and press an unsent message for a couple of seconds
- Press Edit to edit the scheduled message or press Delete to delete it
Sending a delayed message with Telegram
- Launch Telegram
- Start a chat with the contact you want to send a scheduled message to
- Compose your message/chat
- Schedule the message by long-pressing the Send button, which opens the sending options
- Press Schedule Message
- Pick the date and time at which the message will be sent
- Hit the Send button to confirm, and the message will be sent automatically when it’s time
- To edit or delete a scheduled Telegram message, open the conversation and hit the calendar icon. This displays all unsent messages
- Press the message to be edited and edit it, adjust the time and date, or delete the text
Sending a delayed message with IFTTT
To use this method of scheduling messages on Android, the procedure is a bit more complicated than the ones explained above. The IFTTT applet can be used for scheduling SMS when a Google Calendar is put on.
All you need to get started is an IFTTT account linked to the relevant mobile apps. IFTTT will ask for permission if you’ve not yet linked to the appropriate account or apps.
How to schedule a text message TECNO, Infinix, itel
If you’re a TECNO, Infinix, or itel user, here’s how to send a delayed message on Android:
- On the Home screen, swipe up the screen to open the app drawer
- Scroll down and open the Messages
- Tap Start chat to start a conversation
- Select the contact you want to message
- Type the text
- When you’re done with that, long-press the Send button
- The Schedule send menu will show up
- Choose date and time from the suggestions
- If you choose your own date and time, a calendar will appear, and after selecting a date, a clock will open to choose a time
- Tap Next
- Hit Send. A clock icon will now appear that shows you’re sending a scheduled text
How to send a delayed text message on Android with Truecaller
If you’re one of the millions of Truecaller users around the world, these are the steps to schedule a text message with the app:
- Open Truecaller
- In the bottom part of the screen, tap Contacts
- Select the contact you wish to text
- On the selected contact page, tap on Message
- On the next screen, type your text
- When done, tap SMS in the bottom part of the screen
- Long press the Send button and tap Schedule SMS
- Tap on the Calendar icon that replaced the Send icon
- Select the date you want the message sent and press Continue
- Select the time you want the message sent and press Schedule SMS
How to troubleshoot Google Messages schedule text not working
If you have issues sending a scheduled text message on your Android with Google Messages, the problem can be from the app itself or your network.
If it’s the former, force-stop the app as follows: Settings > App Management > App Settings > Messages > Force stop. Having done that, restart Google Messages and try to send the message again.
If that technique doesn’t solve the problem, you can update the Messages app to the latest version.
If the problem is from your network, you can try to send the text again after some time.
Final Thoughts
By following the tips above on how to send a delayed text message on Android, you can schedule SMS on your device with ease.
The ability to schedule messages comes with many smartphones by default, but if your device doesn’t have the feature, you can use any of the third-party apps above.
