Scheduling an email is a great way to make sure information gets sent during business hours, even if you write the email during off hours. If you’re a business owner, manager, or similar, you probably need to do the same thing over text.

Scheduling a text gives you more freedom and flexibility while still ensuring that your messages get sent whenever you want them to. But each device has a different way of allowing you to schedule your messages to be sent at a later time. 

Here’s how to send a scheduled text message on your different devices:

Why Would You Need to Schedule Send a Text?

There are a few reasons why you might want to schedule a text to be sent some time in advance. One of the several reasons might be so that you don’t disturb someone during work hours if your message involves something work-related. This helps the recipient maintain a proper work-life balance while making the sender seem more professional.

You can draft up your correspondence at any time of day, even during off hours, and then make sure that it gets sent once work hours start back up. This is useful if you want to make sure that a customer or your supervisors receive a message at a specific time of day, perhaps if you want to remind them of something before the work day ends.

You might want to schedule a text to be sent on a consistent schedule each week, including reminder texts or promo offers. Scheduling your texts can help you do this, too.

Sending a Scheduled Text on iPhone

You cannot send a scheduled text on the iPhone within the messages app itself. However, you can use the shortcuts app to send scheduled texts whenever you want. This might seem a bit intimidating, but the shortcuts app is actually a fantastic way to make your life easier.

To schedule a text with the shortcuts app:

1. Open the Shortcuts app. It looks like an interlocking pink and teal diamond – you can always search for it in the search bar.
2. At the bottom of the screen, tap Automation.
3. Tap the add icon at the top right. If you don’t have any existing automations, tap “Create Personal Automation.”
4. Next, choose the automation in which you want the text to be sent. If you’re looking to schedule it for a specific time of day, then click “Time of Day.”
5. Set a specific time that you want the text message to be sent.
6. Under Repeat, select weekly, daily, or monthly depending on how often you want this text to auto-send.
7. Tap Next.
8. Under Action Suggestions, tap “Send Message.”
9. In the box at the top of the screen, tap “Message” to input what you want the text to say.
10. Then, tap “Recipients” to choose who to send the message to.
11. Tap Done, and then tap Next. Review your automation. Depending on whether you want your phone to ask you before running the automation, toggle the switch below.
12. Tap Done, and then you should be all set!

This is a helpful feature if you want a text to be sent out to a group of people at a later date, such as a reminder for a party or an event. You can even send messages to yourself to act as reminders to take medicine, visit appointments, and more.

If you only need to send the scheduled text one time, delete the automation by swiping left in the automations tab.

Sending a Scheduled Text on Android

If you have Android 7 or newer, you can schedule a message to be sent later right from within the messages app. Here’s how to do it:

1. Open the messages app.
2. Open the conversation you want to send a scheduled text to.
3. Enter your message.
4. Touch and hold the send icon. A dialogue option box will appear.
5. Choose your own date and time. If you select a date, a calendar will open where you can pick a date and then set a desired time for the message to send.
6. Tap the send icon. The message will then be sent at your desired time.

Check if a message is scheduled to be sent by opening a conversation. You’ll see a “Scheduled Message” notification next to it.

If you made a mistake and you need to edit or delete the scheduled message, open the conversation with the scheduled message. From there, tap the Schedule icon. After that, you can update the message, delete it, or send it immediately.

Sending Scheduled Messages Using Third-Party Apps

Especially when it comes to sending scheduled messages on an iPhone, it can be a bit more complicated than you might want it to be. However, you can download third-party apps that let you send scheduled messages indirectly.

The advantage of using third-party apps is that they not only let you schedule messages to be sent, but they also have more features that can make it easier and more intuitive. For instance, some third-party apps let you change font size and even the color of your messages to make more of an impact.

Just be careful about which third-party apps you download to your phone. Not every single one will be able to perform exactly as you want them to, and some of them might be scam applications that are only trying to secure data from your phone. Be sure to do some research before you download an app that has access to your personal messages.

How To Set Up Auto-Reply on Your Device

Sometimes, you might want a message to be sent on your behalf automatically without needing to input a specific scheduled time. If that’s the case, you can set up an auto-reply that sends out a message when you receive one.

On your iPhone, you need to be in Driving Focus Mode for the auto-reply functionality to work. Go to Settings, click Focus, and then choose Driving. Then, click the Auto-Reply option. Then, select who receives auto-reply messages and edit the custom message to say whatever you’d like. This message will be sent when you are in driving focus mode every time someone tries to reach out to you.

How Burner Can Help

On Android, there’s no easy way to set up auto-reply without getting another app. Even on your iPhone, it’s inconvenient to need to be in the driving focus mode in order for the feature to work. Luckily, Burner is a free app for both iOS and Android that lets you set up auto-reply (among much, much more).

Burner lets you set up an auto-reply functionality that can be sent to potential customers if you’re ever out of the office or on vacation, allowing your customers to feel cared for even if you’re not fully present. You can even auto-reply messages after first-time customers reach out to you so that they know you’ll be reaching out to them once you have some time.

On top of that, Burner acts as a second number to help you keep your personal number private from potential dates, customers, or when buying or selling on playlists. It can even let you consolidate phone lines for your business to make for a more seamless customer experience.

Unlimited calling, texting, and spam blocking. Get a second number in whatever area code you want with your Burner number.

In Conclusion

Scheduling a text message lets you send messages at a later date to improve professionalism in the workplace and make sure you are not bothering potential clients during off-hours. It also lets you send reminders for promo offers or deals without needing to worry about physically sending them out at the right time.

You can send scheduled texts on both an iPhone and an Android. You’ll use the shortcuts app on your iPhone to indirectly create a shortcut for your scheduled message, whereas you can directly send a scheduled message through the messaging app on your Android. Either way, you can download third-party apps onto your phone that let you accomplish these tasks with additional features.

Sources:

“The Importance of Work-Life-Balance” | IOSR Journals

Top Ten Scams – 2021 | Fraud

How to Recognize and Report Spam Text Messages | Consumer Advice