You know what they say: even when it comes to text messaging, timing is everything. After all, it’s the last thing you want to send a late night message to your boss for fear of forgetting it tomorrow. You can save yourself the trouble by scheduling the message instead.
Whether you have an Android or an iPhone, you can send delayed text messages and forget about them. This post will take a look at how to schedule messages on iPhone, Samsung and other Android devices. So let’s get started.
How to Schedule Text Messages on Android
If you’re an Android user, you probably have Google Messages as the default messaging app on your phone. If that’s the case, here’s how you can schedule a text message using the Google Messages app on Android.
Stage 1: Open the Messages app on your phone. Use the Start Chat button to create a new conversation or open an existing conversation to write your message.
Step 2: Now press and hold the Submit button until a ‘Schedule to send’ window appears. Choose one of the available times to send a message.
Note: If tapping and holding the send button doesn’t bring up the Schedule sending window, try updating the Messages app from the Google PlayStore first.
Alternatively, you can use the date and time picker to set a scheduled time for the message.
Stage 3: Once complete, a small clock will appear on the Send button indicating that this is a scheduled message. Click this Send button and the message will be scheduled.
Once sent, the message will have a clock icon next to it. You can use this to make any changes to the programmed message. For example, you choose to update the text of the message or change the timing by selecting the option Update message.
Additionally, you can choose to send the message immediately or delete it completely.
That’s all it takes to schedule messages in the Messages app on Android. Note that your phone must be connected to the internet for the text scheduling to work.
How to Schedule Text Messages on Samsung
If you have a Samsung phone, it comes with the pre-installed Samsung Messages app instead of Google Messages. Fortunately, you won’t have to switch as Samsung Messages can schedule messages for a long time. Here’s how it works.
Stage 1: Open the Samsung Messages app on your phone. Tap the compose message button or open any existing conversation.
Step 2: Tap the + icon to the left of the text field and select Schedule message.
Stage 3: Enter the preferred time and date and then tap Done. Now write the message in the text field before hitting the Send button.
This much. Your message is now scheduled. Like Google Messages, if you want to make any changes before the message is sent, tap the message and select one of the available options to send, delete or edit the message immediately.
How to Schedule Text Messages on iPhone
Scheduling messages on iPhone is still possible, although not as straightforward as on Android. The iPhone’s default messaging app doesn’t have the ability to schedule texts, but you can take advantage of the Shortcut app on your iPhone to send a delayed text from your iPhone. Here’s how to do it.
Stage 1: Launch the Shortcuts app on your iPhone. The shortcut app comes pre-installed on devices running iOS 13 or later. If your device is running on an older version, you need to download the Shortcuts app from the App Store.
Step 2: Switch to the Automation tab and tap the Create Personal Automation button. Then select the ‘Time of Day’ option from the screen below and choose your preferred time to send the message.
Stage 3: Under Repeat, select Monthly and select the date you want to send the message. Then tap Next in the upper right corner.
Step 4: On the next screen, tap the Add Action button and tap the Apps option from the menu that appears.
Step 5: Scroll down to find the Messages app and tap on it. Tap on the Send Message option here.
Step 6: Now edit the Message and Recipient fields before pressing Next. Review the message details and click Done.
You can then edit the details of the messages by tapping on them.
Once complete, iPhone sends the message at the scheduled time. However, one big caveat with this method is that it’s automation. Thus, a message will be sent to the person on the selected date every month.
So make sure to delete the automation after the message is sent. To delete the automation, swipe from right to left on the automation.
Other than that, the method seems to work flawlessly when sending scheduled messages from your iPhone.
On Time Every Time
As we just saw, almost all phones today support delayed messages in some way. Besides the methods mentioned above, you can use Do It Later, Pulse SMS, Textra etc. Many dedicated third-party apps, such as With these apps, you also get some added benefits like scheduling emails, tweets, fake phone calls and more.
