Help & contact

Getting started

Setting Textly as your default SMS app (Android only)

SMS is not available on iPhone, because Apple provides no interface for third-party apps to read or send text messages, so your texts stay in Apple’s Messages app. On Android, the system allows only one app at a time to send and receive SMS. Textly will ask you to confirm the switch on first launch. You can also do it manually:

• Open Settings on your Android device
• Go to Apps → Default apps → SMS app (the exact path varies by manufacturer)
• Select Textly

To switch back to another app later, follow the same path and pick a different one. Nothing is deleted in the process.

My old messages aren't showing up

Textly reads conversations from Android's system SMS storage, so your history appears automatically once Textly is your default SMS app. If the inbox is empty, check that the default-app switch was actually confirmed, then close and reopen Textly.

Names show as phone numbers

This means contacts permission has not been granted. Go to Settings → Apps → Textly → Permissions → Contacts and allow access. Contacts are read on your device only.

Connecting channels

Which services can I connect?

WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord and Slack, in addition to the SMS and MMS that Textly handles natively. Every connection is optional and can be removed at any time.

iMessage and Signal are not supported and are not planned. iMessage has no client interface outside Apple's devices, and Signal deliberately prevents third-party access.

How to connect a channel

• Open Settings → Channels in Textly
• Telegram signs in through its own login: your number, the code Telegram sends, and your history comes with it
• WhatsApp, Discord and Slack are read from their Android notifications instead, because none of them lets another app access your messages. You grant notification access once, and new messages appear as they arrive
• SMS needs no connection, only the Android default-app role

Telegram's credentials are stored in the Android Keystore on your device; we never see your password or your token. The other three have no credentials at all, because nothing is signed in to.

What each channel can and cannot do

A channel stopped syncing

• WhatsApp, Discord or Slack: check notification access first. Android revokes it silently after some updates and restores. Open Channels in Textly, which shows whether it is currently granted.
• Still nothing from one of those three? Check that the app itself may raise notifications, and that the specific chat is not muted. Muting is per conversation, so a single silenced group disappears from Textly while everything else keeps working.
• Telegram: the session may have been ended from another device. Open Channels and reconnect.
• Check that battery optimisation is disabled for Textly. Aggressive background limits (common on Samsung, Xiaomi, Huawei and OnePlus devices) stop background sync.

Disconnecting a channel

Open Settings → Channels, select the service and choose Disconnect. This deletes the cached messages and the derived data for that channel from your device, along with the stored login where one exists. It does not delete anything on the service itself. For Telegram you can also end the session under Settings → Devices in Telegram; for WhatsApp, Discord and Slack there is nothing to revoke, because nothing was ever connected.

The AI features

Does anything get uploaded?

No. Every model ships inside the app and runs on your device's processor. Search, summaries, replies, scam detection and extraction all work without a network connection. You can verify this by turning on airplane mode and asking a question.

A summary or extracted item is wrong

It happens; automated recognition is not perfect. Correct it in place: edit the extracted date, dismiss the item, or mark a message as not spam. Textly adjusts locally on your device. Please don't rely on an extracted appointment or invoice without checking the original message.

The AI features feel slow

Running models locally is demanding. Performance depends heavily on your device's chipset and available memory, and older or low-memory phones will be noticeably slower. Closing other heavy apps helps. Battery-saver mode throttles the processor and will slow answers down considerably.

Turning the AI off

Every intelligent feature can be disabled individually under Settings → Intelligence. With all of them off, Textly behaves as a plain unified messenger.

Troubleshooting

I'm not receiving notifications

• Confirm Textly is still the default SMS app.
• Check Settings → Apps → Textly → Notifications and make sure they are enabled.
• Disable battery optimisation for Textly.
• Check that Do Not Disturb is not filtering messages.

A message failed to send

SMS goes over your mobile network, so check signal and that your plan includes SMS. For a connected channel, check that the channel is still linked and that you still have permission to post in that chat or workspace.

Legitimate messages land in Spam

Open the Spam filter, find the conversation and move it back. Textly will keep messages from that sender in your main inbox going forward, and the correction stays on your device.

A scam got through

Detection is a safety net, not a guarantee. Mark the message as spam so Textly learns locally, and never enter payment or login details from a link in a message. If money was involved, contact your bank and report it to the relevant national authority.

Privacy & data

Do you have a copy of my messages?

No. Textly stores nothing on a server; there is no server. See the privacy policy for the full detail.

How do I delete my data?

Delete individual conversations in the app, disconnect any channels, or uninstall Textly. Uninstalling does not delete your SMS, which stay in Android's message storage, and it does not delete anything held by WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord or Slack. Use those services' own settings for that.

Requesting information about your data

Write to [SUPPORT EMAIL]. Because we hold no personal data about you, such requests are usually answered with confirmation of exactly that.

Still stuck?

Email [SUPPORT EMAIL] with your device model, iOS or Android version, Textly version and a short description of what happened. Screenshots help, but please blur any personal message content first.