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Getting support for AutoSMS
You should first determine if the issue is with the AutoSMS service itself or a specific client for it that you are using. To test just the service itself, go to http://www.watacrackaz.com/autosms and send a message from there. If it fails there, it's a service problem, otherwise, it is a valid extension problem. Also bear in mind support for Firefox extension should also go to the service provider (site previously mentioned), and for Android app: http://www.textr.us/anonytext.
Bear in mind that service issues should be directed to the service provider (links above) rather than this project here. Some examples of client issues include things like when install/uninstall of the extension doesn't work on browser, Chrome extension works but Safari extension doesn't, etc. Service issues include things like can't send SMS, get problematic response messages from service, no drop down list of cell/mobile carriers.
For support from service provider:
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You can post comment here: http://www.watacrackaz.com/autosms/comments.php
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Post a thread here: http://groups.google.com/group/anonytext
You can inquire about issues with these clients (or file bugs/issues for them) via this site's issue tracking system.
You may also email me at mangaroo AT gmail dot com.
Why is there a list of phone service providers/carriers? And why do I need to select it for the recipient's carrier to send him/her a message?
Likely because the AutoSMS service needs to pass your message to the SMS gateway of the recipient carrier for your recipient to receive it. Similar to sending an email to someone, you need to specify the domain or hosting provider of the recipient like user@gmail.com or user@yahoo.com. We've been spoiled by not having to do that for SMS messages.
Think of it this way, basically, you pay (as part of your phone service plan) to send SMS to recipient from your phone. The plan provider receives your SMS to recipient's phone number and does a lookup via some directory/algorithm, etc. to find out which phone carrier the recipient is on based on the phone number and then passes it to the SMS gateway of the recipient's carrier. Unfortunately, I believe that lookup process isn't really available for free, hence free services like AutoSMS probably resort to alternate options. For example, you can find a carrier's email-to-SMS gateway so that you can send SMS to recipient from your email account, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_SMS_gateways or http://martinfitzpatrick.name/list-of-email-to-sms-gateways. You just need to know the gateway (meaning you need to know the carrier). So of course there's a catch when things are free (i.e. just a little more work to send a message).
Why do I need to enter a CAPTCHA code?
To prevent spammers, bots, and automation etc. to easily send out spam messages to many people (abuse prevention).
Why is there no option to provide a sender/return phone number or email address?
Ask the (API) service provider, but part of the name of the service at least for Android is anonytext, hence I guess it's supposed to be "anonymous". You can however, add your contact info as part of the SMS text message as a workaround.
The clients I build are limited/restricted to the API functionality offered by the SMS service provider that I'm using for these clients.
Why does the service return message saying that I need to enter the code correctly when I know I did, and thus it won't send out my message?
This is a limitation of the (API) service provider. It does not distinguish when a code is entered incorrectly or there's some other problem.
For example, the API service requires session state / cookie support, so if you build a client that doesn't offer that, it will fail with this particular error message quirk. Such is the case of using the Microsoft HTA version of the client on a computer with IE 6 or older, not with IE7 or newer.
Also, some clients/extensions require certain configurations to work correctly, so the user must set those configurations themselves. Take the Safari extenskion for example: set Safari preferences > Privacy > Block cookies and other website data to "Never". Then restart Safari (e.g. close and reopen Safari). If that setting is some other value, the extension will fail to send the SMS, see issue 2 for details.
What if I don't like these clients?
You are welcome to try others that exist. There are not many that are free and w/o registration or restrictions. One other you could try is TextBelter