How to Send a Text Message from Your Mobile Website

We all like the Short Message Service; that’s why mobile browsers generally offer the ability to invoke the new SMS window from a link. To do this, we have two possible URI schemes, sms:// and smsto://. Unfortunately, there is no standard way to know for sure which one is compatible with a user’s browser.

Note: Wireless Universal Resource File (known as WURFL) can be used to detect sms: and smsto: protocol compatibility from the server so you can select the right alternative.

The syntax is sms[to]://[<destination number>][?parameters]. As you can see, the destination number is optional, so you can open the SMS composer from the device without any parameters defined. The parameters usually define the body, but this property is not compatible with all phones for security reasons (e.g., to avoid a website sending premium SMS texts). As with sending an email, an SMS is not automatically sent when the user presses the link. The link only opens the SMS Composer window; the user must finish the process manually.

The destination number should either be an international number or, if it is a short number code, we should guarantee that the user is in the right country and is connected with one of the compatible carriers of that short code.

Note: BlackBerry devices offer direct messaging between two BlackBerry devices on the same network. For creating a direct message, you can use the PIN:<number> URL scheme.

Here are some samples:

<a href="sms://">Send an SMS</a>

<a href="sms://?body=Visit%20the%20best%20site%20at%20http://mobilexweb.com">
Invite a friend by SMS<a>

<a href="sms://+3490322111">Contact us by SMS</a>

<a href="sms://+3490322111?body=Interested%20in%20Product%20AA2">
More info for producto AA2</a>

Working with MSS
The Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) is the standard way to send messages with multimedia content (images, video, or any attached content). It depends on the SMS standards and a content file (the multimedia message) that the sender uploads to the carrier and the recipient downloads from the carrier. Symbian devices allow us to define the URI schemes mms:<url> to download an MMS file from the specified URL and mmsto://<destination number> to open the Multimedia Message Composer.

The table below lists which messaging features work with which platforms.

Messaging actions compatibility table

Browser/platform	sms:/smsto: scheme	mms:/mmsto: scheme	mailto: scheme
Safari	Only sms: and in iPhone (not iPad/iPod). No body support.	No	Yes
Android browser	Yes, no number or body support	Yes, no number or body support	Yes
Symbian/S60	Only sms:	Only mmsto:	Yes
Nokia Series 40	No (use mailto: instead)	No	Yes (it can also be used for SMS and MMS)
webOS	Only sms:	No	Yes
BlackBerry	No	No	Yes
NetFront	Yes	Yes	Yes
Openwave (Myriad)	No	No	Yes
Internet Explorer	Only sms:	No	Yes
Motorola Internet Browser	No	No	Yes
Opera Mobile	Yes	Yes	Yes
Opera Mini	Depends on the device	Depends on the device	Depends on the device

Note: If you are developing mobile widgets or offline Javascript applications, almost every platform provides a low-level API for sending messages and even receiving them from your application.