Opening SMS app from feature phone's mobile browser?

Question

Via HTML, is it possible to access/open the SMS app from a mobile browser?

It's okay if the SMS is routed through the user's own mobile carrier (like normally), and is billed to the said user as well. I don't want to create my own SMS gateway to provide a platform for sending such messages. I'm only interested in calling the SMS functionality from the mobile browser.

I've seen examples of: <a href="sms://[phone]">Send an SMS</a> But I'm unsure how extensively they work. I need a robust solution that works across an expansive range of mobile browsers (esp. old-school feature phones). I don't want to have to use HTML5 or Javascript. Most old-school feature phone browsers I'm targeting aren't Javascript-enabled - so it's a bottleneck.

Solution 1

I added the following in my template and got the desired results: <a href="sms:+1234?body={{ link.description }}" style="color:blue;background-color:#FFA500">SMS</a>

Don't mind the Django tag: {{ link.description }}

The generic usage for anyone is <a href="sms:1234567?body=hello world">Send SMS</a>

Solution 2

If you want to add a pre-fabricated message to the sms, Android and iOS devices require slightly different syntax. Note the '&' vs '?' below.

iOS:

<a href="sms:1234&body=hi">Send an SMS</a>

Android:

<a href="sms:1234?body=hi">Send an SMS</a>

Comments

[Hassan Baig]

I'm not really after 'sending' an SMS from the browser. Is it possible to access and open the SMS app from the mobile browser? I also fine-tuned the problem statement to reflect this.

[Hassan Baig]

Thanks for this. Any information on which Android OS versions the code is compatible with?

[pratyush]

This worked for me. In addition to this, do an encodeURIComponent() on your body text.

[Rahul Singh Bhadhoriya]

it is not working onLoad user have to specifically click on the link.

[Jainam Shah]

What If I don't want to add any default number?

[Hadar Romashkano]

event when I use encodeURIComponent() on Android, the & char is cutting my url.