O2 Ireland updated their webtext site on Sunday March 7th. We have updated both Jelly SMS Desktop & Jelly SMS for iPhone and iPod Touch & Android already with the fixes.

The iPhone/iPod update is now live in the App Store. Please update to version 2.9.4 to get the latest fixes.

We will be releasing the Android update ASAP also.

The free desktop version update can be downloaded from http://www.jellysms.com

After a number of rounds of private beta test by a number of kind volunteers, we are delighted to now make the latest beta build of Jelly SMS for Android available to all.

First of all, the disclaimer: this is still beta software, so bugs are to be expected! That said, after having been through a few rounds of testing already, we should have the most major bugs already addressed.

To make sure that we don’t have to support the beta into the future, we have put a time limit on the app. This particular build cannot be used after March 6, 2010. And don’t worry, before that date arrives, we will either provide a new beta or make a full release of the application.

So how do you start saving money sending SMS texts on your Android phone?

• On your phone, open “Settings->Applications”
• Make sure that the checkbox beside the option “Unknown sources” is checked. This allows you to install apps other than those listed in the Android Market.
• Browse to our homepage http://www.jellysms.com using the Web Browser on your phone.
• Click on the “Android (beta)” link.
• Once the download completes, select the Jelly SMS installer in the download history window.
• Select “Install”.

Then launch the Jelly SMS app, create a login profile for your account, and use that login profile to start sending texts… It’s as simple as that!

And here’s a tip: To create a shortcut to your login profile, press “menu” on the main page of the app (the profile selection page), select “Shortcut” and follow the instructions…

Happy texting!

Keith.

Update Feb 2 2010: Reports say that the latest iPhone 3.1.3 allows this to work again but ONLY on factory unlocked iPhones. Thanks to Éamonn for the heads up!

Three Ireland Contract

Vodafone Ireland Contract

Vodafone Live! Ireland

AT&T USA Contract

O2 UK Contract

O2 UK Pre-Paid

T-Mobile UK Contract

Virgin UK Contract

Three UK Contract

Vodafone UK Contract

Rogers Canada

Fido Canada

Note: Do this at your own risk!! I have only tested this on my own device (3G O2 Bill Pay iPhone) and cannot guarantee it will work with yours.

2. Restart the iPhone.

3. Once it restarts, go to Settings > General > Network and turn on tethering.

Done. Now connect your iPhone to the computer. The computer will automatically detect a network connection on the USB port. It just works.

On your Mac / PC turn off your Wi-Fi or unplug your Ethernet to check how it works.

Note: You will need at least iTunes 8.2 or greater installed on all the computers you want to tether with.

There you have it – Irish users get free text messages (O2, Vodafone, Meteor, Three + many others) on your iPhone and iPod Touch or on your Mac/PC with JSMS, and now you can use free internet tethering on the go.

Follow me on Twitter: @finbarrbrady

Use Jelly SMS to send free SMS messages

Now you have tethering!

Today, a community of developers in Ireland, bonded by the tag #xcake, have stepped up and donated some of that App Store success in the direction of the Haiti earthquake victims. I have also chipped in €200.

Led by @padraig , the donations are still coming in fast from the likes of dermdaly, vinnycoyne, ConorWinders & fluter. Check out Padraig ’s blog to keep track of it or here to donate:

http://padraig.tumblr.com/post/356029828/eur200-for-haiti-lots-of-other-xcake-folks-like

We will very soon be offering a private beta version for free to people who sign up to our mailing list here.

It will have many of the great features of our existing iPhone and Desktop versions, with a few new features to boot!

Check out some screenshots below.

Create separate profiles!

Compose window

Users of Jelly SMS up until now have had problems sometimes sending SMS messages in several languages including Arabic, Asian languages, and languages with special characters such as accents.

Well now we are glad to say that this has been resolved and now when you use your My-Cool-SMS.com account with Jelly SMS, Unicode messages are fully supported. If you are using an account other than My-Cool-SMS.com, then you will be informed that you need to change your provider to My-Cool-SMS.com in order to get support in your language if Unicode characters are detected.

现在您可以使用所有语言果冻短信。 注册与”My-Cool-SMS.com”

U kunt nu Jelly SMS in alle talen. Signup met “My-Cool-SMS.com”

Vous pouvez maintenant utiliser Jelly SMS dans toutes les langues. Inscription avec “My-Cool-SMS.com”

يمكنك الآن استخدام جيلي الرسائل القصيرة في جميع اللغات. الاشتراك مع”My-Cool-SMS.com”

Ju tani mund të përdorni Jelly SMS në të gjitha gjuhët. Signup me “My-Cool-SMS.com”

Сега можете да използвате Желе SMS на всички езици. Регистрация с “My-Cool-SMS.com”

Sada možete koristiti Jelly SMS na svim jezicima. Prijavite se “My-Cool-SMS.com”

あなたが現在すべての言語でゼリーSMSを使用することができます。サインアップを “My-Cool-SMS.com”

Ahora puede utilizar jalea de SMS en todos los idiomas. Registro con “My-Cool-SMS.com”

Delivery Reports

Another big feature in the latest update (2.6) is support for delivery reports for My-Cool-SMS.com users. This is a feature O2 Ireland users have enjoyed since the previous release and they love it.

Just press the ‘Reports’ button on the main screen to view the last 25 sent items and the delivery status.

I hope you enjoy the update. Don’t forget to leave a review for my app in the App Store if you’re happy with it. If not, please let me know in the comments below. I read each and every comment and will respond to every query.

1. There is a problem with sending messages in my language. Do you support Chinese, Arabic, accents and other special characters? Can you help?

Yes. This has been fixed and you can use it in the next version which is currently in review with Apple. However, it only will work with my-cool-sms.com as the other VOIP providers do not have an API for this.

2. How do people reply to my messages? E.g. if I send someone a message using Jelly SMS, how do they reply to that message?

As stated in the App Store description, Jelly SMS can forward SMS text messages that you send from Jelly SMS. Due to Apple’s restrictions, Jelly SMS cannot forward SMS messages which are stored inside the iPhone SMS app.

4. Just bought your app for my iPhone. I signed up with one of the providers. I added money to my account and every time I try and send and SMS it’s says to check user name and credit on my account. What can I do?

Let’s try and get this working for you. Can you please do the following:

1. Go to your providers website and log in.

2. Ensure that your credit has been applied to your account by checking the ‘Remaining Credit’ field on the left of the page.

3. On your iPhone, go to iPhone Settings > Jelly SMS and re-enter your login details. Please ensure your username, password are correct and that your provider is set correctly.

4. Try to send the SMS once again.

5. When typing a message, if you press the backspace key/button on screen, then cursor proceeds to delete all text.

Yes this is a known issue with some iPhones still running 3.0. There is a simple fix described here. I would recommend updating your iPhone to the latest version of iPhone OS which should also fix the issue.

6. I thought my remaining balance of my sms provider would be shown. Am I missing something?

Yes, after sending first massage the balance is shown in the ‘New Message’ screen.

7. Additional Information

In addition to the information on the home page, please note the following:

1. Jelly SMS requires an internet connection in order to send SMS text messages. It will work over Wifi, 3G or EDGE data connections.
2. Jelly SMS is localized in French, Italian, German, Spanish and English. I will be adding support for additional languages in future free updates.
3. Irish O2 / Vodafone / Meteor / Three users: If you’re in a low coverage area Jelly SMS will send quicker if you turn off the ‘Show Remaining’ preference (go to the iPhone Settings -> Jelly SMS application to see the preferences).

Please contact me if you have any questions at all.

Thanks!

It features:

• Message sending failures for certain voip providers is now fixed. The reason it stopped working is because these providers changed their API without letting me know, so I could not preempt this problem.
• Your remaining credit balance is now shown for you after you send an SMS.
• landscape typing fix
• international SMS for Vodafone Ireland users is now supported.

Hope you enjoy.

Version 2.5 is also on it’s way with some more goodies… Watch this space!

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