textPlus, eh?

textPlus Canada banner, spotted on Friday

textPlus is FINALLY available in Canada. As of last Friday, textPlus users have been able to send free text messages to Canadian wireless customers, and were notified if they were part of the beta program. Today, textPlus went public with the expanded customer base.  Currently (quoting the textPlus blog post), Rogers, Telus, Bell, Fido, Virgin, Aliant, Northern Tel Mobility, SaskTel, and Telebec Mobilite are supported as of today. textPlus has implemented this switch on their servers, so you won’t have to re-download, re-signup, update, cover your iPhone in maple syrup, or anything else to take advantage of this.

Bonus:  This means that all textPlus users (foreign and domestic) will be able to text Canadian phone numbers for free, and you (as a Canadian) can freely text Americans and other worldwide textPlus users. Awesome travel tip!

Also, up to 20 contacts (made of textPlus addresses and real phone numbers) can group chat.  That means that if one person adds to the conversation then everyone will receive the message.  *Yay* for group chatting!

Also, see the textPlus blog post to enter a contest to win textPlus gloves.

Just a bit of background: textPlus by Gogii is a free service which allows users to send text messages to cell phones, there is an app for iPhone/iPod Touch and Android which makes access to the service easier.  You can sign up in app or by texting !NAME to 60611.

Sending a message from textPlus can take two paths:
1) You have the free app and are signed up; now you just enter a textPlus username, pick a contact’s phone number, or enter a phone number, up to 20 all together, and press compose. Type a message and it will be sent to the recipients for free to you (this uses data, not your text messages); the recipient(s) don’t pay for this if they have a messaging plan which includes received messages.  If there are more than two people involved in the chat, all messages will be forwarded to everyone.  The other people can replying to the message in their inbox. Then you will receive notification of that all in a very short period of time. The syntax is very similar to Twitter via SMS in a way.

If someone wishes to textPlus you they just text !chat to 60611, then you will receive a message asking you to add textPlus usernames and/or other numbers to the new chat session; a conversation will be started.

2) You don’t have the app/can’t get the app (using Blackberry, other phone) [see the textPlus blog 'Pro Tip' about this]
From any cellular phone, text !chat to 60611 and follow the instructions to set up a username and in the future after you’re all setup, invite other numbers to chat. Texting to 60611 and receiving messages from textPlus doesn’t cost any more than texting a domestic number.

Also, see the Revision3 show, App Judgement review textPlus.

*Remember: there isn’t a way to include textPlus in your My5 plan and requires a texting plan, unless you like overage fees.*