Treasuremytext: cloud based SMS storage for Android. V2.

Published
by
Katie
on August 14, 2009
in Apps, Development, Features and SMS
. 0 Comments

We’ve been busy working in our Android app version 2 and it’s now live and a whole lot more fully featured than version 1. The Treasuremytext for Android application automatically archives all sent and received messages from your Android phone to the Treasuremytext web app. Once you set it up, you don’t need to do anything; all your new incoming and outgoing messages are archived automatically. Many Android users have been fans of the Treasuremytext app but have asked for a few new features. Here they are:

  • Simple one Touch setup
  • Saves sent and received SMS automatically
  • Contact filters let you save only the SMS you need
  • Backup, Organise, Print, Email (Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo etc) your SMS via Treasuremytext.com
  • Twitter Integeration

To install, search for Treasuremytext in the Android Market. For more info visit Treasuremytext.com or see info about the app on Cyrket here.

Create a DIY SMS Gateway with Android + Treasuremytext

Published
by
Katie
on April 29, 2009
in Events, Features and SMS
. 0 Comments

Chicago based artist Leon Grant Bussinger’s been busy creating Light Sound & Motion “previewing several current design and technology projects including multi-touch, large scale sms interaction, and experiential lighting design.”

Leon wanted to a simple solution that would enable him to create an interactive SMS project. Treasuremytext for Android to the rescue!

Essentially Treasuremytext for Android auto archives all messages received on an Android (G1) handset. All messages get archived in a user’s private SMS account. We created a little tweak just for Leon that let him publish a text stream of all of these received messages. Leon then displayed the text stream in his artwork - essentially allowing his friends to speak voice messages which are then displayed on screen.

Essentially Treasuremytext for Android acts as an automatic SMS gateway - which we think is pretty neat!

Leon’s work involved inviting his audience to leave him voice messages (Google Voice), which automatically get turned to text, then sent to the web via the Treasuremytext Android app. Pretty nice hack!

Automatic SMS Web Backup for Android Phones Launched

Published
by
Paul Stringer
on March 9, 2009
in Development and News
. 0 Comments

The Treasuremytext Android App is now available on the Android Market (U.S. Only)

It took a little longer than expected but resulted in some significant changes to the app since we won the Developer Challenge based on a feedback from judges.

This is our first app which fulfills the request of many users which is for automatic backup of messages to Treasuremytext. We plan to roll this out to more smartphones in the future. This is where we see the future of Treasuremytext. Although SMS forwarding will always be an option, with more people taking up Smartphones we’re able to give people a much better experience through an app.

One thing we worked very hard on and are incredibly pleased with is the zero configuration authentication process we’ve implemented. It implements OAuth which is seen in our iPhone app but without need for passwords, logins and all that to’ing and fro’ing from site to app. This is still a pain on a mobile device and we think this is a much better way to do it. We’ll talk more about the actual implementation in a future post.

We’re trying to put together a quick video demo but in the meantime just go grab it and try it out, there are screenshots here.

We’re not sure how to link to the actual app in Market but just go to it on your Android phone and search for Treasuremytext in the Communication Apps section.

Treasuremytext wins in Android Developer Challenge

Published
by
Paul Stringer
on January 30, 2009
in Events and News
. 1 Comment

That's me bottom left in the Pink Shirt!

We won! Not the main prize that went to the fantastic Meter Maid app from Martin Koel en Alida Roskam (makes real easy the paying for parking around Amsterdam and other places I believe). Those two won a deserved return trip to San Francisco.

We though we’re thrilled to be win one of the other 4 prizes in a tough competition. Plus it’s fantastic to actually be able to get a G1 from T-Mobile as our prize. This will let us thoroughly test the Android app properly before releasing it on the Android Market.

It was a great event and lots of credit to Peter Robinett of Bubble Foundry for really starting the whole thing of with the excellent Mobile dev camps he’s been arranging here for the past few months in Amsterdam. We’ve been to a couple and there turning into some of the best meetups in town.

In the last few weeks we’ve become more and more excited about Android and starting to believe in it’s potential. We think it’s going to be a seriously big deal for Treasuremytext and a big part of our future. This is the first time we’ve been able to develop an app for a phone which we’ve dreamed about doing for a while now. It completes the Treasuremytext service, makes it seriously much easier to use and integrates seamlessly with your handset for the first time.

For all of those who’ve been asking about automatic backup to Treasuremytext with support for original dates and contact info, start looking at getting yourself an Android phone from T-Mobile as soon as you can.

We gave a small demo of the app which was recorded and will be placed up on T-Mobiles G1 site sometime today we’re told.

We’re finalists in the T-Mobile Android App Competition

Published
by
Paul Stringer
on January 28, 2009
in Development, Events and Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

On Thursday 29th T-Mobile are holding a press event for the launch of the G1 otherwise known as the Google or Android phone for the Netherlands.

After the recent Android Dev Camp in Amsterdam details of a competition for Android Apps was announced. The prizes range from G1 Phones to a trip to San Francisco.

After attending the event we got pretty excited about Android and realised we could build our dream Treasuremytext app on this phone. One which can automatically save your SMS in the cloud at Treasuremytext without you having to do anything.

We went back to the office and got to work and on Monday with 20 minutes to spare we submitted our Android app for the competition. Today we got a phone call and we’re amongst the 10 finalists and the winners are going to be announce tomorrow.

We’ll be there, we’ll let you know how we got on. Those of you with G1’s look out for Treasuremytext in the Android Market soon.

Here’s a bit of blurb from our submission which describes the app.

“Treasuremytext for Android

Treasuremytext for Android is a tiny background app that provides a seamless solution to archiving your messages on the Web from your T-Mobile G1.

Utilizing Android OS support for background services and deep integration with mobile SMS services the app is able to automatically forward each SMS as it is received. After setup it requires no action from the user. Messages can later be accessed on the Treasuremytext web site.

A Streamlined Mobile/Web Experience

The app communicates with Treasuremytext in the cloud using a REST based API. Many web services rely upon a token based authentication scheme (OAuth) including Treasuremytext.

This can prove cumbersome for the mobile user as it generally involves a round trip to the services website. With the access provided by Android to both Internet and SMS communications channels the developer has been able to implement the entire authorization between device and Web service with a single tap.

The users password is never required and accounts are setup automatically on the service if needed for access another time.“

Make the jump to 2.0

Published
by
Paul Stringer
on October 3, 2008
in Bugs, Development and iPhone
. 5 Comments

When releasing the new TMT for iPhone 2.0 app I made a couple of changes under the hood of our API. One of the things we did was to remove and clean up a couple of patches that were in there to accommodate a couple of bugs in the first TMT for iPhone app v1.0.

These bugs mostly arise around issues to do with & and = signs in messages. If you’re still using the old app you’ll have discovered messages containing these characters no longer save, anyone who gets a lot of messages with smilies in such as =) will notice this a lot.

To avoid confusion about what’s going on here we’ll be deprecating the API key for the v.1 app in the next few days. The app will try to reauthorise but you’ll be getting instead a nice message asking you to upgrade to 2.0.

So for original iPhone 2G with iPhone Software 1.* hold outs if there weren’t enough reasons already to get yourself to 2.0 this is just one more, don’t be scared now it’s real easy.

TMT for iPhone 2.0 Instructions

UPDATE Friday 17th October - Today we disabled the original iPhone 1.0 app.

Hi Bewaarbox

Published
by
Paul Stringer
on September 26, 2008
in News, SMS and Texting
. 0 Comments

Our Dutch speaking friend Alper tipped us of about Hi (a Netherlands MVNO) who are offering something very similar to Treasuremytext the Bewaarbox!.

We just checked them out and although similar in nature there are still plenty of things different about our services. One thing we do love is they let you print a tiny book of your messages. We’re looking to work with Moocards or someone similar to bring such a thing to Treausremytext because it’s really nice to be able to do that. The other big difference is they do MMS also but although we’re asked a lot about it we still prefer to concentrate on doing SMS and doing that as well as we can. MMS is such a different thing that it’s hard to make one thing that could do both really well.

Interestingly as an operator providing this, they don’t seem to be doing anything more magical than we are when it comes to the archiving process. When you want to save an SMS you send it to a number which is the model we’ve been using since we began which we think is the right one for most users. We tried to sign up, obviously to have a look around but couldn’t because it is tied to the Hi network (we’re with Vodafone). This makes sense because they can offer it as a nice service differentiator from the other networks. The downside is if you don’t happen to be with Hi you can’t use it. What happens if you ever switch networks is not obvious.

So if you’re not with Hi (or even if you are) Treasuremytext works just great in the Netherlands on any network and with a local Dutch 06 mobile number it’s probably going to be free with an inclusive SMS bundle for you to use!

If anyone is with Hi and has had a chance to play with it please share what it’s like and a couple of screen shots.

Treasuremytext iPhone app now available on Cydia

Published
by
Katie
on September 3, 2008
in News, SMS and iPhone
. 6 Comments

Treasuremytext for iPhone (Version 2.0) is now available to download via Cydia courtesy of iSpazio.

Features of the app:

  • Archive and Backup your SMS messages to your Treasuremytext account
  • Delete Individual SMS from your iPhone

Added benefits for use with Treasuremytext:

  • Messages appear in Treasuremytext with the original date sent
  • Messages appear in Treasuremytext in the right date order
  • Treasuremytext figures out the right ‘from’ contact info for you
  • A new contact is created if the from address is not yet in your Treasuremytext contacts

Keep an archive of your iPhone SMS on Treasuremytext.com

To install, use Cydia; you’ll find us under “T”! More info on the app, and installation instructions here.  The app works for iPhone 2G and 3G with 2.0 software and superseeds the original Treasuremytext for iPhone app. This app does require a jailbreak. For more info on why we can only make this app work for jailbroken iPhone read this post. 

This is a first sneak preview so if you do find any bugs please let us know over at Get Satisfaction.

Enjoy!

on Treasuremytext on Seesmic

Published
by
Katie
on September 1, 2008
in News
. 0 Comments

 Treasuremytext - take 1

We met up with Rudy De Waele on Saturday ahead of his appearance at Mobile Monday Amsterdam (great presentation, by the way Rudy!) and he managed to convince Paul to do a quick demo of Treasuremytext via seesmic. Very impressed by seesmicing on the move (we were at de Balie); not so sure about the video replies!! :)

iPhone Dev Camp Amsterdam

Published
by
Katie
on September 1, 2008
in News and iPhone
. 1 Comment

I’m taking time whilst waiting for Mobile Monday Amsterdam to get into the swing of things to post my pictures and thoughts from iPhone Dev Camp Amsterdam on Saturday. It’s been a busy few days of mobile application development in Amsterdam and I’m noticing two worlds about to collide.

Whilst we have long been advocates of mobile+web or web+mobile / integrated services (take Treasuremytext as an example), it seems now iPhone is here, more web people are starting to take mobile really seriously.

iPhone Dev Camp was a fabulous indicator of the appeal of the iPhone platform; with a sell out 120 signups on Upcoming; and a packed Mediamatic all day Saturday. So are there 120 iPhone Developers in Amsterdam? Well, no actually nearly all of these guys would like to be iPhone developers but come from the web world. They’re making great 2.0 apps with PHP, Python, Ruby, but Objective C and Cocoa; skills you’ll need to get going with iPhone seem a long way off. iPhone Dev Camp to the rescue! Peter Robinnet made everyone at home with pancakes and the fun began. The Dutch developer scene is pretty friendly, people are happy to help each other out as they start with small scale apps to learn the basics.

We’re lucky to know at least 3 Cocoa Developers (who’s earning potential at least doubled as they can now easily transition and sell their services as ‘iPhone Developers’). For people who have any Mac development skills this is a huge opportunity. iPhone Dev Camp also highlighted that there are people desperate to have their ideas realised in the App store. The web guys get it too; and know the potential of web+iPhone strategies.

Some of the guys at the event managed to learn enough to create their first ‘hello world’ level iPhone apps - and many did much better with some pretty neat ideas. We managed to get the Treasuremytext for iPhone app tested and very nearly ready!

My pictures are here, and the Treasuremytext for iPhone app will be available very soon.