SendNote

Send e-mails and text notifications to SprintPCS phones.

version 2.1.0
By William Frantz
Copyright 2004
Please note that you are not permitted to redistribute applications from ApGap without the expressed written permission of the author.

Description

SendNote is a Java (J2ME) application (MIDlet) that can send e-mail and text messages (Notifications) to most SprintPCS cell phones or any valid e-mail address. The MIDlet runs on any J2ME device. Messages are sent through http://messaging.sprintpcs.com and smtp.sprintpcs.com so the program only works when Sprint's servers are working.

Download

The latest version of SendNote can be downloaded from http://www.apgap.com.

Revision Log

Details

This version can send text messages to any cell phone that has an e-mail address. For example, Sprint uses addresses like 1234567890@messaging.sprintpcs.com.

Some of the other carriers are:

Configuration

The proper configuration settings are:

To use the e-mail feature you will have to configure SendNote with your SprintPCS Vision e-mail address and e-mail password. Your Vision username is usually displayed when you power on your phone or when you connect to the internet. It forms your SprintPCS e-mail address. For example, my username is williamfrantz so my address is williamfrantz@sprintpcs.com.

Alternatively, you can use any SMTP server that supports authentication. Sprint provides an SMTP server, but you don't have to use it. Any server should work.

You e-mail password is can be set from Sprint's website. Follow these steps to set your e-mail password:

  1. Log on to Sprintpcs.com
  2. Click on My Online Tools
  3. Click on PCS Mail
  4. Click on Settings & Preferences
  5. Click on Setup
  6. Enter your new password
  7. Confirm your new password
  8. Click Done
  9. Enter your new password into SendNote.

SendNote uses Sprint's e-mail server smtp.sprintpcs.com. That server requires your username and password. It also only allows messages from "you@sprintpcs.com" addresses. You may optionally an e-mail address on the configuration page, but it will appear as a Reply-to address on the messages you send. Personally, I use 1234567890@messaging.sprintpcs.com as my reply address so that there is at least a chance that replies are routed directly to my phone.

If you enter a Name on the configuration page it will appear next to your e-mail address on every message you send.

To send an e-mail, put an address in the To field. For example, williamfrantz@yahoo.com. If you want to save the address and add it to the quick pick list, just add a name like WF at Yahoo williamfrantz@yahoo.com. If you put all that in the To field and choose Save, then WF at Yahoo will appear on your pick list and the e-mail address will be stored.

The Send Notification Form:

The main form has 3 or 4 visible fields.

  1. The Message field is for the text that will be sent. Messages may be up to 160 characters in length.
  2. The Wait For Status option determines what happens after the message is sent. SendNote can wait for a confirmation reply from Sprint (slow at times) or simply continue as soon as the message is transmitted.
  3. The To field is for the name (optional) and phone number (required) of the recipient. All numbers must be exactly 10 digits long, consist only of digits, and may not start with a 0. If a name is entered along with the phone number, the name is saved to the phonelist. Phone numbers without names will not be saved.
  4. The phonelist is a pick list that follows the To field. The phonelist consists of every name that has been saved. Rather than entering a recipient in the "To" field, a recipient may be selected from the phonelist. Names appear in the order they are added.

Options

There are five options named Configure, Recall, Save, Send, and Delete.

  1. Configure: There should be no need to change anything on the configure form but it's available just in case.
  2. Recall: Recalls the last message sent (so you don't have to re-type it).
  3. Save: Put a name and number or address into the To field, select Save and that name will be added to the form. For example, type William Frantz 8005551111 and press Save. The name William Frantz will appear on the form and the number will be stored in memory.
  4. Send: The send option will submit the message for delivery. If both a name and number are provided, they will automatically be saved when the message is sent.
  5. Delete: The Delete option will remove the selected name from the form.

Troubleshooting

If you are having trouble sending messages, most likely your username and/or password are wrong. You may want to try configuring another e-mail client just to verify that everything is set properly. Use a program like Outlook or Netscape Communicator. Create a new e-mail account. For the outgoing server, use smtp.sprintpcs.com. Look for an option like "my server requires authentication for sending mail" and make sure it's checked. Enter your Vision e-mail address and e-mail password. Make sure that you can send messages. If you can setup a program like Outlook to send e-mail through smtp.sprintpcs.com, then you should have no trouble using SendNote the same way.

If you are having trouble saving names on the Send Notification form, make sure you are entering them properly. You must provide a name with each phone number or e-mail address that you want to save. Joe 1234567890 and Mary mc@host.com will work. 1234567890 or mc@host.com by themselves can not be saved.

Names and settings are not actually saved permenantly until you exit the program properly using the Exit softkey. If the program is aborted or terminates abnormally, the changes will not be committed to memory.

There is 1K of memory set aside to store settings and contacts. If you actually manage to fill that let me know. I'll give you the Numb Thumb award and bump the size up. So far nobody has complained about running out of memory.

Known Problems

Sometimes after entering the text of the message field, the screen will not allow you to scroll down to show the contact pick list. This appears to be bug in some handsets like the LG 5350. The easiest workaround is to scroll down and pick the contact first, then scroll up to enter the message text.

Sending "Download" links to Samsung N400's apparently does not work. You will have to manually enter the address or download the application from mobile version of this website.

When filling in the fields on the form, your handset may use T9 or ABC mode when you'd really like it to use the other mode. Unfortunately, each handset does that differently and there is nothing that this program can do to force one mode or the other at any time. I have found that the Sanyo 4900 starts with whatever mode was used last.

When you submit messages to messaging.sprintpcs.com/textmessaging/composeconfirm, Sprint sends back about 9k worth of data. Not only does this take a long time for any phone to download, it also seems to completely overwhelm some phones. I've found that the Sony Ericsson T608 cannot process the large response from Sprint. As a work around, I created a messaging gateway at apgap.com/composeconfirm.php that can be used in place of Sprint's HTTP Server.

Donations

Donations are gratefully accepted via http://www.paypal.com to paypal@williamfrantz.com. Suggestions for new features are also gratefully accepted, especially when accompanied by donations.

Download SendNote