Have you ever missed an extremely important phone call or text because you were too busy finishing those TPS reports on your personal computing machine? There's a Chrome add-on for that. We went hands-on with a new extension (and accompanying Android app) called MightyText, a free notification service launched today that syncs your phone's texts and calls to your computer in real-time. The idea is crazy simple, yet adds unyielding convenience: incoming SMS messages appear on your screen as a pop-up, giving you the option to read and reply to them without touching or even looking at the phone. The full extension will show each conversation thread in its entirety, as well as call logs.
When sent from the computer, texts are still patched through from your phone number, so your colleagues will still see your messages coming through with your name on them. To make the service even more appealing, pop-ups alert you to incoming calls, so you can either hurry to find your phone or just send the caller a canned auto-text reply. It sounds like a great concept, but does it do the job? Head on past the break to learn our first impressions of the program.
We found the MightyText experience to be painless, and the service itself was incredibly convenient. It was much faster and easier to type SMS replies to friends and family, rather than using the keyboard on our Android phone. We also enjoyed having all of our text conversations and call logs recorded on our computer, which can be a huge lifesaver for anyone that has gone through the frustration of restoring or replacing their device. All in all, this particular Chrome extension was a rather useful method of managing texts and calls.
That's not to say it was perfect, as the program's still in beta and getting a regular dose of updates, but it still ran very smooth. While the pre-release version admittedly had a few bugs, such as the occasional delay in receiving and sending texts, the development team informed us that these are in the process of getting ironed out. All of the call logs are combined with messages in the same window, which we found to be somewhat frustrating as well. One final downside is that this type of program can only be used under the care of Google's API codes, so you must have Chrome and a handset with Android 2.2 or higher (and a full data plan) to make it work.
Since MightyText is still running under beta, it asks you to fill out a signup sheet (find More Coverage below) and you'll typically get accepted within a few days; by using the invite code "ENGADGET," however, your invitation will be expedited. When you receive the much-anticipated email saying you've been added to the program, instructions on how to download the necessary add-ons and apps will be included.
Update: The MightyText team has received so many requests already that any submitted forms as of this point may take a few days to process. They'll still be treated as top priority, but don't be frustrated if it's not within the next 24 hours.
