If you're unremarkably quick to answer to text messages, people might worry when you don't reply for a while. And while automobile-reply functionality isn't built into the platform, it's thankfully easy to set up automatic text replies on Android.

Using a few apps, you can send automobile-responses to people who try to contact you lot while you're driving, in a meeting, on holiday, or otherwise occupied. Hither's how to car-answer to texts on Android.

Automatically Answer to Texts While Driving With Android Machine

If you lot're primarily interested in automatic responses while driving, Android Machine lets you lot auto-reply to incoming texts with 1 tap. This works whether your auto has an Android Auto-compatible head unit or you use the Android Auto app on your phone display.

To brand sure yous're ready to use automated text responses in Android Motorcar, first open the Android Machine app. Note that on Android 10 and higher up, Android Auto functionality is built into your device if yous use it with your car's screen. Thus, you'll need to install the Android Auto for telephone screens app to make this change.

In the Android Auto app, slide out the left sidebar and choose Settings. Under the Notifications section, yous'll come across some options related to incoming alerts for texts and other messages.

Brand sure you have Show message notifications (and Show group message notifications, if you desire) selected here. Otherwise, you lot won't know when a message comes in and can't machine-respond quickly. You may also want to enable Silent notifications to avoid your SMS tone blasting through your automobile's speakers.

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Older versions of Android Auto had an Auto respond field, where you could customize the response that y'all sent while driving. However, this isn't available anymore. You'll have to stick with the default I'm driving correct at present response.

Now, when you lot see a notification come in for a message, you can hitting the automobile-response field to send your automated respond with one quick tap. When you're using Android Auto on your phone's screen, the message volition stay on the Home bill of fare. This lets you reply to it a bit later if you missed the initial notification.

This auto-respond works for all Android Car-supported messaging apps (such as WhatsApp and Telegram), not just SMS. While it'southward non fully automatic, it's a safer manner to answer on the road when needed. To reduce distractions, you can also tap Mute conversation after sending an automatic reply to suppress time to come notifications from that chat.

Exist sure to check out the best Android Motorcar apps to get more out of the service.

Download: Android Auto (Free) | Android Auto for phone screens (Free)

Use the SMS Auto Reply App

The to a higher place method is keen for sending automatic responses while driving, but there's much more than yous tin can do to auto-reply to texts on Android. 1 of the all-time apps for the job is SMS Auto Reply, which offers about of its features for free.

Download: SMS Auto Respond (Free, in-app purchases bachelor)

Getting Started With SMS Motorcar Reply

After installing the app, you can walk through the bones overview and start making your own auto-response rules. Tap Add/Edit on the home screen to start one.

At the superlative, you'll meet the Decorated template is selected past default. You can tap this to modify it to others similar Driving, Meeting, or Movie. Each one has its own preset message, which you can edit in the Message field.

To create a new response template, tap the Plus icon at the top-right and give information technology a proper name. Before moving on, make sure you lot have SMS selected nether Select channel to respond to so the responder works on text letters. The app supports other services (like WhatsApp) too, but you take to upgrade to access that functionality.

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Ready Exceptions for Text Car-Responses

The next footstep in tweaking a template, or making your own, is the Personalized Listing department. Here, you can optionally cull to send a personalized bulletin to particular contacts. This allows you lot to leave a more personal annotation for people you know well or are expecting a message from. Everyone else volition get the full general bulletin you entered above.

Tap the Pencil icon next to Personalized List to select contacts, or contact groups, that the personalized bulletin should go to. In one case you choose the contacts, blazon out the message for them.

Yous'll also see a Don't Respond List field. This allows you to specify numbers that you don't want to machine-answer to. For instance, y'all can exclude people you expect to text while out of office.

When yous're done, tap Save to keep your changes to the current template.

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Setting a Schedule for Automobile-Responses

Next, you'll want to set up a schedule for the auto-responder to run on. Cull Prepare Time on the home folio, or the button with the same name at the bottom of the previous editing screen, to configure this.

Make sure you have the correct reply template selected from the dropdown bar at the top. Then you lot take four options for the SMS auto-respond schedule:

  • Run by Fourth dimension lets you pick a fourth dimension period when the auto-responder should exist active. Simply ready a start time with From and and ending time with To.
  • Run by Date will answer to messages in the time menstruation you select, during a period of dates that you choose. This is useful for setting "out of role" text replies when you know you lot'll be away for a set up amount of days.
  • Run by Week Days volition activate the auto-responder for the time period you choose on the specified days of the week. Check the Echo Weekly box if you want it to run the same way in the coming weeks.
  • Run when your car Bluetooth connects lets you lot actuate the profile when your telephone connects to one or more Bluetooth devices of your choosing. Make sure that you lot accept Bluetooth enabled and the device(s) paired earlier selecting this.

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Tap Relieve and you'll go to the On/Off screen. There, the app will let you lot know that due to Android limitations, it only works with incoming SMS text messages. Make sure you take notifications turned on for your SMS app, or the automobile-reply won't piece of work.

You also must utilise an SMS app that supports quick replies from the notification, which about modern Android SMS apps should.

Toggling Auto-Responses to Text Letters

Visit the Turn On/Off folio from the homepage, and yous'll see all the car-response rules you've created. If yous'd like to create dissimilar profiles for different times or groups of people, you lot can repeat the in a higher place steps to ready up as many rules every bit you similar.

To really enable auto-responses, enable the slider next to a rule. When you do this, the app will prompt you to enable notification access so it knows when you get a text bulletin. It may also inquire you to disable Android's battery optimization, allow unrestricted information access, and provide other permissions and so it can run properly.

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While this is a lot of permissions to grant, they are necessary for the app to function every bit intended. When a rule is currently active, yous'll run across it highlighted in blue on this folio.

Auto Responder Settings and Other Features

That'due south all you need to utilise SMS Car Reply properly. The service has a few extras that you should know about, however.

Once a dominion has come into effect, tap Reports on the home screen to view information about what letters information technology sent while that contour was active. On the left sidebar, you can utilize the Backup tool to save your configurations to Google Drive.

As well on this sidebar, you'll find a Settings menu that's worth examining. For example, enable Send only one reply and the app won't respond to multiple messages from the same person during the duration of the rule. This is useful to avoid repeating your away message if someone sends multiple texts.

Under Respond rules, yous tin also choose to respond but to your contacts, not-contacts, or whatsoever personalized lists you've set up every bit above.

You tin also choose to ignore brusk numbers, which is a proficient idea since near automated letters come up from short code numbers. Nearly of these inquire you non to reply to their texts.

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Motorcar Answer offers a few in-app purchases to unlock more features. For example, yous can add auto-responses to messages from Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Telegram, and like. These will besides unlock a default profile option and like shooting fish in a barrel i-tap toggling of auto replies.

It costs $six.49 for everything (including advertisement removal), which is worth considering if y'all use the service often.

Create Your Own Text Car-Respond Applet With IFTTT

If you lot don't similar the higher up solution for some reason, you can always create your ain auto-responses with IFTTT.

First, sign upwardly for IFTTT and activate the Android SMS service. You'll need to install the IFTTT app on your telephone to complete this pace. From there, you tin can employ Android text messages as both triggers and actions for new applets.

IFTTT Triggers Android SMS

Yous're only limited past your creativity hither. For example, you might use the New SMS received matches search trigger to take hold of letters containing certain words. The action could then transport an automatic SMS response letting them know that you're not available.

There's a lot to digest with IFTTT, so check out our complete IFTTT guide to help you on your mode. The free plan only lets you make a scattering of applets, only that should be enough for a few SMS responses.

Download: IFTTT (Free, subscription available)

Finally, for one more pick, don't forget that some Android texting apps have car-response functionality built in. Ane of our favorites, Pulse SMS, includes this in its vast feature prepare. Give it a await if your electric current SMS doesn't back up automobile-responses.

Open Pulse and slide out the left sidebar, then scroll downwards to the bottom and tap Advanced Features. On this card, discover the Messaging Features department nigh the bottom and tap Auto Answer Configuration to get-go using it.

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Enable Driving Mode or Holiday Mode to automatically reply to every text you receive. Cull Bulletin text for each of them to set up your response bulletin.

Y'all tin toggle driving fashion hands by adding a tile to the Quick Settings shade. Just swipe down from the top of your screen twice to open up it, then tap the Pencil icon in that console. Find Driving Mode and elevate it into your list of quick setting tiles. There'due south no style to activate this when connecting to a Bluetooth device, then this is the fastest mode.

For more flexibility, cull Create a New Auto Reply. In that location, you can choose either Contact or Keyword. Contact-based replies will send an automated response when a particular contact texts you lot. Keyword-based replies will automatically reply when you get any text messages containing the word or phrase you lot specify.

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Equally the app mentions, driving and vacation modes have precedence over whatsoever rules you set here.

Automatic Replies to Android Text Messages Made Like shooting fish in a barrel

We've looked at a few ways to transport auto-response texts on Android. Whether you just need an easy and prophylactic manner to let people know y'all're driving, or desire to swoop into a full setup with multiple auto-response profiles, you lot won't have to go out anyone waiting for a reply once again.

Don't think that SMS is useless these days, either. In that location are services that still make good use of it.

Make SMS Useful Again: 7 Services That Use SMS Messages Cleverly

You might remember SMS is also quondam-school to be useful, but these apps and services prove that SMS text letters are nonetheless useful.

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