Advance SMS Manager from Killer Mobile helps you get a grip on your texting. It helps manage where your texts come from, where your texts go, and is a great example of how great add-on Symbian apps can be deeply integrated into the core of a Nokia mobile.

Advance SMS Manager is available for almost all S60 3rd Edition and S60 5th Edition devices. Only the earliest S60 3rd Edition devices (designated “MR” by Nokia) are not compatible. Those devices are missing one API that AdvanceSMS requires. I tested it on my Nokia N97.

Compatible with "just about" all S60 3rd and S60 5th Edition devices.

The installation screen warns you if you are about to try to install it on an incompatible device. This was a nice touch, and gave a window into the attention to detail during the development of this app.

Incoming

First let’s look at how Advance SMS Manager helps you manage incoming SMS messages. Some basic features apply to all incoming SMS messages. For example, you can configure the app to provide you with a full-screen preview of each incoming message as it arrives.

The more interesting features allow you to manage incoming messages based on who sent them to you. Here’s how:

Manage SMS to manipulate incoming messages based on the sender.

From the Manage SMS menu …

Add information about people who send you texts.

… selecting the Add person option takes you to your contacts list, from where you can select any entry. This is just one of many instances where Killer Mobile integrates Advance SMS Manager deeply into the core functions of your Nokia. I selected fellow Ovi Daily App blogger Jason Black.

Touch the contact (or select the contact on keyboard devices) and you get a list of options for how to deal with texts from the contact. If it’s an ex girlfriend you are sick of hearing from, you can Filter SMS and automatically ignore the text. Or be a bit more polite and Auto Reply with a caring message about how much you cherished your time together and wish her well as she moves on with her life. Filtered SMS messages are held for a limited time in a log in the Advance SMS Manager app so you can review them later. You control how long the messages are saved before they are automatically deleted.

But Jason’s a good guy and I don’t want to filter him out. In fact, I want to make sure I know when he sends me a text. You see in the next screen how I configured a custom ring tone that now sounds every time Jason sends me a text:

Control how you manage messages from each of your contacts.

Outgoing

The outgoing features of Advance SMS Manager solve an unusual problem I have: I spend weeks at time out of mobile coverage. During those periods I have access to email, but no mobile phone and obviously no SMS. I am careful to leave an outgoing message that warns callers they are about to leave a message for someone who won’t hear it for weeks, but there has been nothing I could do for people who send me texts. Until now. Advance SMS Manager allows me to leave a mobile plugged in back in the city where it has coverage, and it will accept incoming SMSes and forward them to my e-mail account. Here’s how:

From Application Settings …

Automatically forward SMS messages to another mobile or to an email address.

… enable SMS Forward and enter an e-mail address. It’s that simple.

Deeply integrated

I mentioned earlier that the developers over at Killer Mobile did a great job integrating Advance SMS Manager into my core N97 experience. Here are two more examples of that deep integration:

1. Schedule an SMS: Within Advance SMS Manager you can schedule an SMS to be sent some time in the future. If this is something you often want to do, go back to the Applications Settings menu and enable Prompt to Schedule. Now forget about calling up the Advance SMS Manager yourself — just use the native device app to send an SMS and you will be asked if you want to send the text immediately or schedule it for later.
   

   Deep integration into core functions.

2. Status icon: The app will provide status on your home screen if you configure it so (again from Applications Settings menu.) Notice the orange status indicator in the upper-right corner of this screen indicating I have unread text messages.
   

   Home-screen status indicator if you choose.

There are more features in this app, but you get the idea. A full user manual is available if you are curious. If you need help managing a flood of text messages, check out Advance SMS Manager available for $4.99 (USD) in Ovi Store. Of if you are not yet ready to part with cash, there is always the Free Trial version.

I should add a note for the app-obsessed among our readers. If you gravitate toward apps that help organize your communications, there may be some interaction among them. For example, when I first tested the SMS-forwarding features in Advance SMS Manager it did not work. Then I remembered I had TrueCaller running on my N97, and it was intercepting the incoming messages before Advance SMS Manager could “see” them. I exited TrueCaller (and turned off AutoStart) and everything worked fine. I read on the Killer Mobile site about another interaction between a user’s remote lock app (which works via SMS) and Advance SMS Manager. In this case Advance SMS Manager was preventing the remote lock app from working.

Editor’s Note: The makers of Advance SMS Manager, Portland, Oregon-based Killer Mobile, promise that “Many new features [are] coming soon.” And indicate if you have a feature request for the app to visit their forums.