Wouldn't it be nice if your phone could automatically send your significant other a message along the lines of "Sorry, honey! Can't pick up the phone, I'm in a meeting! I love you! XOXO
One of the most comprehensive apps for this task is called Auto SMS and it is available for free in the Android Market. It can be used to automatically reply to text messages or to shoot a quick note to folks who call you when you're unable to pick up the phone.
All you have to do is create profiles — instructions which tell the app how it should respond to which sort of action or person — and it'll handle everything else. You'll be able to control whether everyone or only specific people receive automatic replies, when those replies are sent, what the actual replies are, and whether messages are sent as a response to other text messages, calls, or both.
But that's not all you can do with Auto SMS. The app can also schedule messages to be sent for later, read messages aloud, and control your phone's volume setting so that you're never interrupted at inopportune moments.
Just how good is this app though? According to folks who have used it since its release, is's quite great. The message scheduling feature appears to be one of the most loved parts of the app, but the main function — the auto responder — definitely gets all sorts of praise ranging from simple remarks expressing how useful it is to near worship because it allowed someone to take naps without interruptions.
Yes, this app is almost like a great secretary — except it won't bring you coffee. But somehow we can forgive that shortcoming in exchange for the ability to flaunt all of Auto SMS' features in the faces of iPhone users — who can only get use similar apps if they jailbreak their devices.
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Rosa Golijan writes about tech here and there. She's obsessed with Twitter and loves to be liked on Facebook. Oh, and she can be found on Google+, too.