The Best Group Text App Without Reply All

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Worried about texting a large group at once and allowing people to respond with "reply all"? Learn how to avoid that with group texting apps.

All it takes is one person to hit “reply all” to a mass email to trigger tens or hundreds more reply all’s that look something like this:

• “Hello, please take me off this chain”
• “Everyone, please stop replying all”
• “Hey everyone, just stop sending emails!”

Now you have confused staff, customers, and clients who are likely to mute or unsubscribe from your emails which could result in important information going undelivered.

When people learn about SimpleTexting’s mass texting abilities, a common question we get is: if someone replies, will it go to the whole group?

The answer is absolutely not.

If you’re a business or organization that wants to text large groups at once without the ability to reply all or create a giant thread, we have the group texting solution for you.

What Is One-Way Group Text Messaging?

By nature, a group message on a personal phone creates one large thread. Meaning everyone can see all the messages sent and received.

This can be great if you’re looking to chat collaboratively without starting a busy email thread.

However, SMS software and texting apps are different because they can enable something called one-way group messaging.

Here, only the sender can send messages to the group, everyone else is simply a viewer. Additionally, nobody else can see the other recipients’ names or phone numbers—only the sender can.

This kind of messaging allows you to contact big groups at once with the same feel of a personalized, one-on-one chat.

How Does a Group Text App Without Reply All Work?

Group texting apps, also known as broadcast text apps, work by connecting the sender to the recipients via the internet as opposed to a mobile phone.

But first, you’ll need the help of text marketing software—like SimpleTexting. Services like us give you one-way messaging power. We’ll even set you up with a dedicated phone number, or help you text-enable your current one.

The only caveat is your contacts, also known as subscribers, must give you express written consent to send them a group message.

Consent is just an industry term meaning they give you permission to send them texts by either texting in a keyword, filling out a form, or checking some kind of consent box!

When you’re ready to send a message, also known as a campaign, you simply write it out, select the list you want to send it to, and presto! The message delivers to your group at once, but appears to the recipient as if it was a text message sent to only them.

If someone decides to reply, their message goes directly into your Inbox where you can respond, snooze, resolve, or leave notes on the conversation.

Here’s what the Inbox looks like in our one-way group text messaging app:

[Read: What You Need to Know About SMS Campaigns]

How To Get Started With a Broadcast Text App

The easiest part is getting started. There are a variety of texting platforms that offer broadcast texting capabilities. With SimpleTexting, you can try it out for free for 14 days!

Here’s a video that covers the basics of how to send out a one-way group message:

Once you sign up you’ll do a few things:

1. Select your number: By default, every SimpleTexting account is set up with a complimentary toll-free number capable of texting large groups or having 1-on-1 conversations. You can also work with our onboarding team to text-enable your existing voice number or request access to a 6-digit short code.
   
2. Grow your subscriber list: You’ll need to populate your contact list to send group messages. If you have phone numbers for folks who have already given you permission to text them, you can upload your list directly into the platform. If not, we suggest you reserve and advertise a keyword (e.g. Text RUN to 900900), set up a web form, and add a click-to-text button to your website!
   
3. Send a test message: While your contact list grows is a good time to send your first test text message. Play around with the MMS features, link sharing, and file attachments to see how things will look on your recipient’s end.

Once you’ve completed these quick steps, you’re ready to go!