Your cell phone is a tool — it’s great for staying in touch with everyone from your boss to your mom. But you can do much more with a phone. With SMS, you can run your whole life. With just a text message, you can track your expenses and add items to your Amazon wishlist: no more messing around with scraps of paper to try to remember something until you get back to your desk. You don’t even need a phone that lets you install applications to use these tools: they’re all just a text message away.
- Track Your Packages:
Got a package coming from FedEx, UPS, USPS or DHL? If you give TrackThis the tracking number, the site can send you a text every time your package’s location changes. - Get Stock Quotes:
Yahoo! Alerts will keep you updated about the current price of your stocks — but it also offers you more specific text message alerts, such as an SMS when your stock rises or falls by an amount you specify. Yahoo! Alerts can also update you about the weather, sports and other news. - Track Your Expenses:
Whether you’re tracking expenses for reimbursement from your boss or you’re just managing your own money, you can text your expenses to Xpenser. The site offers a free service that not only records your expenses but also analyzes them and creates reports you can send off to your boss. - Stop Smoking:
If you’re working on quitting smoking, you can track your progress by texting Qwitter. You can also send journal updates to the site, keeping a record of where you’ve had problems and where it’s gotten easier. - Pay Your Bills:
Depending on what country you live in, you can pay your bills by text message. Many utility companies and cell phone providers offer such an option — check your providers to see if they offer SMS payments. You can also send small payments through sites like Sepomo, but both you and the recipient have to set up accounts to do so. - Search For An Apartment:
Looking for a new place to live? If you start your search on Apartments.com, you can send information about specific apartments to your phone as a text message, making it easier to compare apartments on the go. - Read The Classifieds:
If you’re constantly checking Craigslist for new furniture or new jobs, you can get updates in your favorite category texted directly to your phone with Craig’s List Buddy. - Update Your Amazon Wishlist:
Kwiry’s main function is to allow you to send text messages to yourself — listing reminders, tasks and such that the site then turns into an email or to do list. But Kwiry also allows you to add items to your Amazon wishlist, update your Netflix queue, add events to your calendar or run searches. You can also update Facebook from your phone with Kwiry. - Search Google:
While you can’t get a huge list of responses from Google over SMS, you can use it to find nearby restaurants, get directions, check area codes of mysterious phone calls and more. - Order Pizza: Domino’s, Papa John’s and Pizza Hut all offer the opportunity to order pizza by text message. You’ll have to visit your favorite pizza provider’s website to set up an account, but after that, you’ll be able to order a pizza by SMS any time you want.
You may notice that several of these tools rely on Twitter. That’s because Twitter provides an easy way to send updates via SMS and is a free tool. You can create your own account at Twitter for free and share what you’re up to through text messages — and find out what your friends are up to the same way.
