What is the Difference Between a Text Message and an Sms Message?

What is the difference between a text message and an SMS Message? This question is likely what many people keep asking and if you are one of them, keep reading to find out if there is a difference between them.

Most times, we tend to refer to SMS and text messages interchangeably. Mobile messaging is one of the popular ways of engaging your loved ones, friends, or even your customers. 

Statistics say 97% of Americans own a cellphone and 35 % percent own a smartphone.

This means most of your contacts are reachable on a mobile device and direct messaging is the way to interact with them.

Text messages and SMS all perform the same function, but the question remains is there a really big difference between them?

Difference Between a Text Message and an SMS

The first thing you should know is that there is really no difference between them. Short Message Service otherwise called SMS is a form of text message that is sent from one cellphone to the other.

Note that it’s a text-only format, meaning it doesn’t include texts that also send information through images or videos.

A good example of an SMS text that a business can send to its contacts includes a promotional text message or an appointment reminder.

These messages are meant to provide information in a direct way, and depending on the service you used, they can be easily replied to for back-and-forth communications.

For messages that include images or graphics, they are referred to as MMS, which stands for Multimedia Messaging Service.

You can decide to use both in your business but SMS tends to be the go-to message format for brands and customers.

How is SMS different from iMessage or WhatsApp?

Messaging apps like, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and iMessage are referred to as “Over The Top” ( OTT) applications.

You don’t need a cellular network to send messages on these apps first because they rely on the internet.

In order to be able to send messages on this app, the sender must first install the apps on their phones.

For instance, all iPhones have iMessage already pre-installed and your message will default to an iMessage if the receiver is using an iPhone.

But if they are not, your phone will automatically default to SMS which will appear as a green bubble instead of a blue bubble.