Group Text+ and Email+: New from developer Contrast
Developer Contrast today delivered two new iOS apps to the App Store, Group Text+ (US$1.99 during launch) and Email+ ($2.99). The idea behind these new apps? In the case of Group Text+, making it fast and easy to send SMS or iMessage texts to a group of recipients. For Email+, it's all about sending emails quickly to groups with a few taps. Both apps are equally happy to be used on an iPhone or iPad.
The apps look identical -- in fact, Contrast originally set out to put both functions, email and group texts, into one app. The company quickly found out that doing so added a lot of unnecessary complexity to the code and the user interface, so they split the functionality into two separate apps.
Before you do anything in either app, you'll want to add contacts, which is done by giving Group Text+ and Email+ access to your Contacts. You can then pick and choose; I chose just my fellow TUAWers for testing purposes. If they have a photo associated with their contact card, it appears in a circular button in a list of contacts.
Now comes the fun part! To prepare a message to send, you can start by tapping on one or more of those contact buttons to select the recipient(s). Next, attach an image if you want. Contrast did the entire world a favor by adding a GIF button that links to a number of animated GIFs from Giphy. You can, of course, add photos that you've taken.
Once you've added an image, you can add text. There are preset buttons in Group Text+ for sending your current location, the contents of your clipboard, and text snippets like "Where are you?", "I'm on my way" and "I'm running late." If you want to create your own text snippets, one edit button at the top of the Group Text+ not only lets you add or delete text, but also gives you access for editing your contacts.
The app is indeed fast once everything is set up -- I sent fellow TUAWer Dave Caolo my current location (right behind my desk, where I always am...) with four taps, and annoyed the team with a stream of GIFs just as quickly.
One iOS 8 feature that I really like with both of these apps is that they can be used as extensions from the share sheet in other apps. This makes it drop-dead simple to send a group or several individuals in your contact list a Safari URL, for example.
Both apps, which will be available as an app bundle for $3.99 in the near future, make sending out messages to groups fast and easy. You can choose Email+ if you'd like to avoid sending texts, Group Text+ if that's the way you roll, or both for whatever suits the occasion.
Contrast, which also produces apps like Launch Center Pro and Perfect Weather, continues to lead the way in terms of easy-to-use app user interfaces.
