How to send and receive SMS from an Android phone in WACRM
WACRM's SMS Gateway screen pairs an Android phone as an SMS bridge, so you can send and receive SMS from the same shared inbox you already use for WhatsApp. This tutorial walks the real Pair a phone, Devices and Message log screens as they exist today, including where the Android app itself still isn't a public download.
By Huy Nguyen (David), Founder & CEO of Netbase JSC Updated
WACRM’s SMS Gateway turns a spare Android phone into a second channel next to WhatsApp: pair it once from Workspace, and SMS sent and received on that phone show up in the same shared inbox your team already uses. This walks the real Pair a phone, Devices and Message log screens as they exist today — including the one piece, the Android app itself, that isn’t a public download yet.
What you need before you start
- A WACRM Workspace account with at least one project.
- A spare Android phone with its own active SIM card — this phone becomes the SMS gateway, so keep it charged and connected to the network.
- The WACRM Android app’s install file from your WACRM contact. It isn’t published to the Google Play Store, so there’s no store page to search for — ask for it directly.
Pair your Android phone
- In Workspace, open SMS Gateway in the sidebar.
- Click Pair a phone. A dialog shows a one-time code, a 10-minute countdown, and a pairing link
(
tinagw://pair?...) as copyable text. - On the Android phone, install the app your WACRM contact sent you, then open the pairing link, or type in the
code together with the server address the app asks for (default
https://api.wacrm.ai). Grant the SMS permission when the app asks, and disable battery optimization for the app so Android doesn’t stop it in the background. - Back in Workspace, the dialog polls for the new phone automatically and closes once it connects — no refresh needed. The phone now appears as a row in Devices, with its SIM, a health badge (ok / late / offline / revoked), battery, last-seen time and a running Sent/Received count.
If the 10-minute code expires before the phone connects, click Get a new code rather than starting the whole dialog over.
Send your first SMS
Click Send test SMS, fill in the recipient’s number and a message, and optionally pick which paired phone sends it if you have more than one. The dialog shows the resulting status, message ID and expiry straight from the response — no guessing whether it went out. Every SMS you send this way, or later as a reply from a conversation, also appears as a row in the Message log, with direction, the other party’s number, a status chip and a Cost column showing the tokens charged for each sent SMS (received SMS show —). The real cost: each sent SMS costs 1 token by default, receiving an SMS is free, and a send that fails or expires is refunded automatically. If your wallet is empty, WACRM refuses the send and shows a Top up tokens link instead.
See the reply arrive in your shared inbox
An SMS that phone receives is not a separate mailbox — it opens or continues a conversation in Conversations → Inbox, the identical screen WhatsApp messages land in. The contact is matched by phone number, so a customer who’s already messaged you on WhatsApp and then texts your SMS number gets one conversation, not two separate threads. Reply the normal way, in the compose box: if the customer’s last message came in by SMS, WACRM sends your text reply as an SMS through your most recently active paired phone — templates are not sent as SMS — and it appears in the Message log. An SMS reply can go out any time, with no open messaging window to wait for — that kind of window is a separate rule that only applies to a WhatsApp conversation, not an SMS one.
SIM rate limit
WACRM doesn’t cap how many SMS you can queue to a phone. What is capped is each phone’s own connection to WACRM — its polling, heartbeat, inbound and status calls — at 120 requests per minute per device, counted per device on WACRM’s side rather than shared across every phone on your project, so a busy phone’s connection never slows a quiet one’s. Carriers run their own anti-spam throttling on a SIM that sends a lot of texts very fast, though, so a bulk send should still pace itself rather than fire everything at once.
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The text you type — in Send test SMS or in a reply from the Inbox — is exactly what the phone hands to Android’s own SMS sender, with nothing appended. WACRM never inserts a “sent via” signature, a link or any other promotional text into an outgoing SMS; the recipient sees only your words, the same as if you’d typed them straight into the phone’s own Messages app.
What works today, and what needs WACRM?
| You want to… | Where in Workspace | Works today? |
|---|---|---|
| Pair an Android phone as an SMS gateway | SMS Gateway → Pair a phone | Yes |
| Send an SMS from Workspace | SMS Gateway → Send test SMS | Yes |
| Receive an SMS reply in the shared inbox | Conversations → Inbox | Yes — same inbox as WhatsApp |
| See a phone’s health, heartbeat and events, and revoke it | SMS Gateway → device row → details drawer | Yes |
| Download the WACRM Android app from a public app store | — | Not yet — ask WACRM for the install file |
| Know the measured SMS delivery rate on a real phone and carrier | — | Not yet — the real-phone test is still pending |
If a paired phone’s health badge shows late or offline, nothing is lost right away — queued sends simply wait for the phone to check back in, up to the default 24-hour expiry, after which they’re marked expired and refunded. Revoked is the only state you choose yourself, from the phone’s details drawer, and it’s final for that phone: queued SMS for it are not re-routed elsewhere.
Ready to try this with your own Android phone? Request early access to get a Workspace, or have WACRM’s team pair your phone and walk your team through it with Quick Setup.
Talk to an expert
Huy Nguyen (David), Founder & CEO
Ask David a question about send and receive sms from an android phone in wacrm.
Frequently asked questions
Where do I get the WACRM Android app?
Not from a public app store today — there's no Google Play listing to search for. Ask your WACRM contact for the app directly; they'll send you the install file. This guide won't link a Play Store page for it, because one doesn't exist yet.
Is there a limit on how many SMS a paired phone can send?
No — WACRM doesn't cap how many SMS you queue to a phone. What's capped is the phone's own connection to WACRM (its polling, heartbeat, inbound and status calls), at 120 requests per minute per device, so one busy phone's connection never slows another phone's. Carriers run their own anti-spam throttling on a SIM that sends a lot of texts very fast, though, so pace a bulk send rather than firing everything at once.
Does WACRM add a promotional footer or extra text to my SMS?
No. The Android app hands your message text to Android's own SMS sender exactly as you typed or sent it from the shared inbox — nothing is appended, so the recipient sees only your text, the same as a message sent from the phone's own Messages app.
What happens to a phone's SMS if it goes offline or I revoke it?
A phone that stops checking in shows as late, then offline, in the Devices list — queued sends simply wait for it, up to the default 24-hour expiry, after which they're marked expired and refunded. Revoking a phone from its details drawer is deliberate and immediate: WACRM asks you to confirm first, because any SMS already queued for that phone is not automatically re-routed to another one — it expires and refunds the same way once its expiry passes.
Can I trust the delivery status shown for an SMS I sent?
The Message log shows the status the phone and carrier reported back — such as queued, sent, delivered, failed or expired — the same states an SMS app on the phone itself would show you. What this tutorial can't tell you yet is a measured delivery rate across real phones and carriers, since that real-phone test is still pending.
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