Feature-request: sending sms from ocsms app

[theonlydoo]

Hello,
Since you've asked for it, i might have a feature idea :
Why not add a prompt to send sms from owncloud to your cellphone ? Kind of a 2-way sync between the apps.

[nerzhul]

Hi, in fact i already have this idea but i need to found a proper way to do it, because ownCloud is a HTTP app, then it's not like a XMPP chat with a TCP socket opened everytime.

It's my objective for Android app version 2. Reading is better, writing is must have !

[466]

Hi there,
It's been a while since this topic was addressed, so, are there any news regarding this? :)

Caus, once you are able to send sms via owncloud webapp to the android app, you could 'easily' add features, like having the phone react on a given SMS (tracking, deleting files, lock the phone ... )
(OK, this is android app related)

I'd really like to have something like that directly from within owncloud, definitely worth paying for!

[enoch85]

This should also include delete on phone IMHO.

[nerzhul]

@enoch85 indeed

[zwiebelchen]

Have you thought about Firebase Cloud Messaging (formerly Google Cloud Messaging)?
As far as I understand, you can send a message using HTTP to FCM which then gets pushed to your app.
So you don't have to poll written messages in OwnCloud with your app...

[enoch85]

Any update here? I got a request from a customer that were interested in this app. ping @nerzhul

[mtmayb]

I am not a developer but this is something I would love to see!

[jonlachmann]

Should we re-open this issue on the new bug tracker?

[enoch85]

@jonlachmann Which new bug tracker?

[jonlachmann]

@enoch85 My bad, this is the new bug tracker, I was scrolling back and forth and thought this was the old one (before the move to nextcloud)

[adamlove86]

Hi there, Joaoapps (made Tasker app for Android) has just released a new app called Join, which allows you to send messages from your phone. I've successfully embedded it as an external site within my Nextcloud instance, as you'll see below.

I wonder if there's a way in which you can work together?

[9662]

Hi, in fact i already have this idea but i need to found a proper way to do it, because ownCloud is a HTTP app, then it's not like a XMPP chat with a TCP socket opened everytime.

The requirement as specified does not say that the sending has to be done in near real time.

In the context of this app, I would find it perfectly acceptable to queue messages to be uploaded to the phone and sent when the phone next tries to connect to the server.

Then, in the client application you could add, as a configuration option, a “poll server for queued messages” entry that takes as value a number (seconds or minutes). This is then used to set an Android alarm (or whatever they're called) that wakes up the app regularly and causes it to poll the server for queued messages.

Note that this would cause extra battery drain and you would have to deal with Android's “battery optimisation” techniques hacks, but on the other hand has the advantage that only users who intend to use the feature would assume the extra battery drain / data charges. Those who do not want the feature can just set the timer option to zero (meaning “do not poll”).

[revast]

Here, someone proposed to use smsgateway.me/. Seems pretty straightforward to me, if that's a viable solution.

ODE TO SendSMS FEATURE: Hopefully there will be soon a solution to send SMS to groups of contacts in Nextcloud. It would be a HUGE relieve for many organizations which try to reach out to their members/contacts stored and managed in Nextcloud, not only via email and Nextcloud's built-in communication means, but also via SMS. Let's face it: The more means of communication, the less you use all of them. Its simply a time issue, also some sort of general information overflow everyone is exposed to. But (nearly) everyone has a phone that can recieve SMS. It's as simple as that.

May I ask why it was dropped from 2.0 milestone ?

[9662]

Here, someone proposed to use smsgateway.me/.

Not a solution at all. It requires signing up with an external provider, which is quite unnecessary, and installing a closed source application on your phone.

This issue is precisely about leveraging Nextcloud / OCSMS to not have to do that.

[revast]

Ok, I understand. Sorry, I am not really a developer.

I just thought you would need a sort of gateway when also sending SMS from any Browser, not just the Android App.

I am not sure how the workflow then would be to send SMS:

• Will it then only be possible to send SMS when running the Nextcloud Android app on the phone?
• Or would it be possible to tether the phone somehow (like for instance KDE-Connect does), via Nextcloud so that one could also write SMS from your Desktop Computer? I guess one would need to (write and) install some sort of Browser extension for that?
• When this gets implemented, is there then also automatically a means of sending SMS to groups of contacts ?

[9662]

I just thought you would need a sort of gateway when also sending SMS from any Browser, not just the Android App.

It is one possible implementation, but since OCSMS has both server and a phone components that talk to each other, the straightforward (relatively speaking) solution is to send SMS directly from the phone. There is no advantage in using a gateway.

Will it then only be possible to send SMS when running the Nextcloud Android app on the phone?

Yes.

Or would it be possible to tether the phone somehow (like for instance KDE-Connect does), via Nextcloud so that one could also write SMS from your Desktop Computer?

Yes.

I guess one would need to (write and) install some sort of Browser extension for that?

No. You would just log into your Nextcloud account, navigate to the OCSMS component, and on the web page you would have “Reply to this SMS” / “Write new SMS” sort of widgets, consisting of a textbox and a “queue” button. Then, next time the OCSMS app on the phone connects to the server (e.g., by polling every few minutes), it would receive the details of the messages to be sent and despatch them, assuming that the user has given the app the relevant permissions.

This is of course just one possible vision of how this could be implemented. There may be better ways.

When this gets implemented, is there then also automatically a means of sending SMS to groups of contacts ?

That is a separate requirement, although it would necessitate the feature described in this issue to be implemented first.

[nerzhul]

We don't need a gateway, ocsms app is the gateway, but currently there is not way to send messages. I miss some dev time, but i have the design in head.

[azmeuk]

AFAIC it would kill https://messages.android.com

[pascalBokBok]

AFAIC it would kill https://messages.android.com

Wow. Didn't know about this Android feature - I've been waiting so long for this feature to send sms from nextcloud. Been using whatsapp and mysms in between. Now I've signed up for the android version. Let me know when a Nextcloud version becomes available

[summersab]

+1 to the feedback from @azmeuk and @pascalBokBok. This is exactly what I thought this app was aiming to provide. I was pretty bummed when I realized that it simply synced and displayed SMS from my phone but didn't allow me to actually send anything. I did a bunch of research (which turned into running in circles) trying to figure out what Google was using to make their web UI work. I'd love to see this become a clone of Android Messenger + https://messages.android.com, but I have zero idea what would be required, so I'm just another person making demands without contributing anything.

What about this example? Does this properly illustrate how to send messages? (I'm not sure if the challenge faced by the developer is figuring out a method to send messages using APIs on the device itself or if the issue is figuring out how to send the messages from NextCloud to the device in the first place):
https://www.tutlane.com/tutorial/android/android-send-sms-with-examples

Another thought. What about reaching out to the devs behind KDE Connect? They may be willing to help. Either that, or you could always look at their source code to figure out how their magic works.

UPDATE:
I posted on the KDE Connect GitLab and posted this:
https://invent.kde.org/kde/kdeconnect-kde/issues/8

Sounds like they're working on their own SMS app of sorts. Might be some code that you could borrow. Also, the Signal app might be another good place to check. Thoughts?

[e-alfred]

The developers of the /e/ project implemented this, we are waiting for @PhieF to push their changes to this repository so all of the Nextcloud users can enjoy this feature: nerzhul/ncsms-android#230

[Eisteed]

This feature would be a HUGE plus to compete with google message, I wanted to try out the apps made by /e/ but the feature seems to be only working with /e/ os .. is there any ETA about this ? (just to know if this is actually being implemented).