Free messaging coming in October
Sep 17, 2018, 9:24 am
#18
Moderator: Southwest Airlines, Capital One
Join Date: Sep 1999
Location: California
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The login is often broken but services not requiring logon, including paid access, still work.
Sep 17, 2018, 10:05 pm
#19
Join Date: Dec 2014
Posts: 58
No it will not. Plain vanilla SMS texting. No voice, No pictures/No MMS.
Texting. That's all.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3a5BsmxNJ0
Texting. That's all.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3a5BsmxNJ0
That’s a bummer - but it is free afterall
Sep 18, 2018, 9:00 am
#20
Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 1,536
No it will not. Plain vanilla SMS texting. No voice, No pictures/No MMS.
Texting. That's all.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3a5BsmxNJ0
Texting. That's all.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3a5BsmxNJ0
Sep 18, 2018, 9:47 am
#21
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: MCI
Programs: AA Gold 1MM, AS MVP, UA Silver, WN A-List, Marriott LT Titanium, HH Diamond
Posts: 52,574
Could I please get a precise order of tail numbers and dates the service will be available? I need to know this before I book any more Southwest flights. NEED. Otherwise I fear I may be in the air for 75 minutes without access to Whatsapp, like I'm some prehistoric nomad or something.
Sep 18, 2018, 10:47 am
#22
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 438
I posted above that picture messaging did work with the free messaging offered on WN flights. I was using iMessage.
Sep 18, 2018, 11:02 am
#23
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: home = LAX
Posts: 25,933
Ie, since these messaging apps only work with people who have the same apps, you can't use them, for example, to receive airline / hotel / rental car notifications that come to your phone via normal text.
So they may be great for "fun" text, but IMHO they seem fairly useless for "business info" text.
Sep 19, 2018, 8:07 am
#25
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: New York and Vienna
Programs: PA WorldPass Platinum, AA, DL, LH. GHA Black, SPG and HHonors Gold
Posts: 3,870
Given that iMessage is the only messaging app built into your phone if you have an iPhone (which is approximately 40% of the market in the U.S.), your statement is not really correct as this is "the normal messaging built into your phone" for a fairly substantial number of people.
Sep 19, 2018, 8:27 am
#26
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 438
Given that iMessage is the only messaging app built into your phone if you have an iPhone (which is approximately 40% of the market in the U.S.), your statement is not really correct as this is "the normal messaging built into your phone" for a fairly substantial number of people.
Sep 19, 2018, 9:20 am
#27
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: SNA
Programs: Bonvoy LTTE/AMB, AmEx Plat, National EE, WN A-List, CLEAR+, Covid-19
Posts: 4,966
FWIW, I have Google Voice as my primary number, and can text anyone from an airplane (don't know if GV is supported in the "free" config, as I don't have to pay for WiFi).
Sep 19, 2018, 11:46 am
#28
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: home = LAX
Posts: 25,933
Given that iMessage is the only messaging app built into your phone if you have an iPhone (which is approximately 40% of the market in the U.S.), your statement is not really correct as this is "the normal messaging built into your phone" for a fairly substantial number of people.
So Southwest's limitation to these two apps seems to be pro-iPhone and anti-Android, if you ask me.
Sep 19, 2018, 11:48 am
#29
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: home = LAX
Posts: 25,933
Does Google Voice also receive all texts that were sent to your phone number? (And, if so, do they then also show up in your normal Android text function when you get access to that once not in Airplane Mode?) Thanks.
Sep 19, 2018, 12:48 pm
#30
Join Date: May 2018
Posts: 33
