IMPORTANT: Apple introduced a bug in iOS 14.2 which prevents message apps from sending to large groups as it should. There is a workaround- when the message window appears, tap the contact area (without selecting a person), tap the back key, then “return”- but until they resolve this bug we have withdrawn the app from sale.

TextShot is designed to group SMS and iMessages, using a similar look and feel to our popular “MailShot” group email app.

You can create groups from your contacts,  from address book groups, or using a contact checklist. You can choose mobile numbers or email addresses (for iMessages) from those contacts, or enter new ones manually.

A big difference from MailShot is that messages are sent from within the app, as it is not possible to create “group contacts” for messages in the way we do for MailShot.

You send a message by selecting a group and (optionally) a text message, then tapping the TextShot logo to send.

You can find a walkthrough on using TextShot for the first time in our User Guide.

IMPORTANT

On iPhone, if there is a switch for “Group Messaging” on the Messages page of the Settings app, be sure to turn it off. If not, please turn off the switch marked”MMS Messaging”.

This will avoid problems in sending to groups of 10 or more contacts.

Problems And Solutions

TextShot and Privacy settings
I can’t send SMS messages
I can’t send to groups of more than 10 contacts
If anyone in the group replies, everyone in the group receives it
Some recipients received a blank or non-readable text, or didn’t receive it.
Why do some groups or contacts appear in red?
How do I exclude someone temporarily from a group?
Why does one of my groups appear as “Groupname (x of y)” ?
How do I enter text directly (instead of using a preset?

Tips

How large can my group be?
I cant see all my phone numbers.
How do I add an email address to the group
Can I share groups between devices?
How do I duplicate groups?
How do I delete groups?
Where can I learn more about how iMessage and SMS work?

Upgrading

What is the difference between the two versions of TextShot?

Problems And Solutions

TextShot and Privacy Settings

iOS will request your permission before any app can access your personal information, such as contacts or photos stored on your device.

If you deny this permission, TextShot will be unable to read your contact information. (It enables you, for example, to add multiple contacts to a group at once rather than selecting them individually.)

You can enable Contacts access from the “Privacy” section at the top of  the “TextShot” page in the Settings app. A shortcut for this is provided from the Support button in TextShot.

NOTE: your data is never sent to us, everything happens entirely on your device.

I can’t send SMS messages

iMessages can be sent from iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, but only iPhone has the necessary hardware to send SMS messages.

Disable the “MMS Messaging” option on the Messages page of the Settings app, so that SMS is used instead.

If you have a problem, we suggest you start with small groups, and then try larger groups. Try sending an SMS to a single contact, directly from Messages. If you are unable to do that successfully then you have a problem with the SMS configuration on your device, and will need to contact Apple for assistance.

If any contact in your group has an iOS device with iMessage, the Messages app may attempt to send to the entire group as an iMessage and those without iOS may not receive it. Disable “MMS Messaging” (as described above) to prevent this.

I can’t send to groups of more than 10 contacts.

Your carrier enforces limits on how large MMS groups can be.

Go to the “Messages” section of the Settings app on your device and look for a switch marked “Group Messaging”. If it appears there, turn it off.

If there is no switch there marked “Group Messaging”, turn “MMS Messaging” off instead.

If anyone in the group replies, everyone in the group receives it.

This is “Group Messaging”

To avoid this happening, go to the “Messages” section of the Settings app on your device, and disable the switch for “Group Messaging”.

Some recipients received a blank or non-readable text, or didn’t receive it at all.

If your recipient has an older device, and your message contains an character that it cannot display (which may include language accents) it may refuse to display all or part of the message.

If you have this issue, stick to letters a-z , digits and punctuation when sending to less-capable devices.

Why do some groups or contacts appear in red?

A contact will be highlighted in red when it’s details cannot be found in your address book, this is to bring changes to your attention so you can update the group if you wish.

If a group contains a red contact, that group will also appear in red on the groups page.

How do I exclude someone temporarily from a group?

You can temporarily exclude a contact from a group by clearing the checkmark against their name, on the page that lists the members of the group.

This is very useful for managing a group that often changes, such as a sports team or music or drama group.

The circle and checkmark icons on the bottom bar, clear or set all the checkmarks.

Why does one of my groups appear as “Groupname (x of y)” ?

A number is usually shown after each group name on the Groups page, showing how many contacts it contains. For example, a group of 6 would appear as “Groupname (6)”.

If only some of the contacts are selected (using the checkmark system) then it will be shown as “Groupname (4 of 6)”, to show that that only 4 contacts from the 6 will be included when you send a group message.

How do I enter text directly (instead of using a preset?)

Simply tap “X” on the “text” line on the title page. Now no text will be inserted when you create a message.

Tips

How large can my group be?

If you are using SMS this is limited by your device and carrier, rather than the app. In theory you should be able to send to groups of 100 or more, unless your carrier limits this.

If you are using MMS the limits are much lower, see the article above on this.

I cant see all my phone numbers.

By default, only numbers labelled as Mobile or iPhone in your contacts will appear on the contact page. You can toggle the display of phone numbers with other labels using the landline-shaped button on the bottom menu bar.

That button is lit when all numbers will be displayed.

How do I add an email address to the group (to use in iMessages ?)

Email addresses are not displayed by default on iPhone (as it is best to use a mobile number when you have it), but it may sometimes be useful to identify a contact with iMessage. Display of email addresses on the “contact details” or “add from checklist screens” is toggled using the envelope-shaped button in the bottom menu bar.

That button is lit when emails will be displayed.

On iPhone this button will reset whenever you change screens. If you would prefer that this did not happen, an option is provided on the “TextShot” page of the Settings app on your device to disable this behaviour.

Can I share groups between devices?

Is is expected that you will just use Textshot from a single device, probably your iPhone (it is not sold as an iPad app)

If necessary you can copy groups manually using iTunes File Sharing, like this:

1. Connect the device with the data you wish to copy, and open iTunes.
2. Now select the device in the drop down list.

1. Select “Apps” in the menu bar
2. And scroll the whole page down to the “File Sharing” section

1. Select TextShot or TextShot Pro from the list of apps at the left of the screen (whichever contains the data you want to copy)
2. Then click and drag these three .plist files to a folder on your desktop (or somewhere else safe)

Now its just a matter of reversing the process to copy the files to your second device.

1. Ensure that TextShot or TextShot Pro is installed on your new device, then reboot that device (so the app is definitely not running.)
2. Repeat steps 1 through 5 for the new device…
3. Drag the files you previously saved into the window for the new device.

How do I duplicate groups?

You can duplicate a group from the page that lists your groups- just tap “edit” on the top menu bar, then drag the group you want to copy onto the red bar at the bottom of the list. This will create a duplicate.

How do I delete groups?

Tap “Edit” at the top of the groups page, then select the red “-” next to the group you want to delete. (Or swipe from right to left across the group’s name in the list.)

In both cases, you confirm the change by tapping “Delete”.

Where can I learn more about how iMessage and SMS work?

Apple’s support website has more information on iMessage.

A useful tip is that a message appears in a green bubble when it was sent using SMS (or MMS) and in blue when it was sent using the iMessage service.

TIP If a message sent with iMessage fails to arrive successfully within five minutes or so,  devices that can send SMS will attempt to resend it using SMS.

Upgrading

What is the difference between the two versions of TextShot?

Two versions are available-

TextShot Lite is free to try, and will send to two groups of up to four contacts, with two different message presets. You can upgrade the free version of TextShot with an easy in-app purchase to remove these restrictions.

TextShot Pro is not restricted in number or size of groups, and number of text message presets.

NOTE: These two apps are considered as separate purchases on the App Store. Please be careful not to purchase both, or the App Store will charge you twice.