Send SMS Text Message from Java/Groovy - via Twitter

Writing code to send an SMS text message is fairly easy on a smart phone like an Android.  But from a desktop, sending texts is still a mess, not always free, and/or requires a phone connected to your server.

I simply want to send a message to my phone when my app receives some data.  I don't need a complex library with lots of setup nor do I want to sign up for a pay service.

Now this isn't the cleanest solution to text from an app but Twitter can send messages to your phone when people you follow update their status, when someone mentions or replies to you, or when you get a direct message.

My last two write-ups, "Send a Simple Tweet with OAuth and Groovy" and "Send a Direct Message Tweet with Groovy" showed how easy it is to use Java/Groovy and the Twitter4J library to send messages to your own Twitter account or a message to anyone else.

By sending a tweet to an account that you follow or a Direct Message to your own account, Twitter can be setup to forward that message to a phone that you associate with your account.

Simply go to your Twitter account, Settings, Mobile and follow the easy instruction. Then use one of the sample apps from my previous posts and tweet-text away!

Note:

• This only allows you to tweet-text to phones that have been setup to follow accounts. 
• This does not allow you to send a text to a cell phone not registered with Twitter.
• This works for what I need.
• Do you know a better/easier, free method?  Write a comment!

What do you think? Leave a comment.