Email Templates for Smartphones

Email templates on smartphones...seems like something so fundamental, yet achieving this is more challenging than it has to be.
If you only use your phone for multimedia plus the odd text, feel free to skip this post. But for those of us who utilize a smartphone to make multiple aspects of life easier, keep reading. If you haven't already loaded all your loyalty cards on an app on your phone, I'd recommend doing that right away.

Assuming you've already given your wallet some weight loss by loading all loyalty cards on your phone, you're already blocking ads on your device, maybe you've even side-loaded a ROM, then the next step would be to (semi) automate emails.

Those who use their cellphones for business, you might already have a solution for this, or maybe you've never given it any thought. From first-hand experience, template emails are essential for work, and even more useful when done from a smartphone if a good part of the job is spent on the road.

Other examples for this could be sending invitations and requesting quotes. Although there are other channels for these needs (invites via social media or other websites), for those who like email, it's a given that email templates should be easy to use. This can also be useful to send info to insurance companies.

I have searched for solutions. There are some 3rd party apps that may work, but they all seem out-dated. Also, Google Labs offers Canned Messages, but it doesn't work in the Gmail app for Android.

Given that my experience is limited to Android, I haven't explored alternative solutions for iOS, but this solution should work on any operating system. Granted on a desktop, most users have an email client that can handle template files, but on the mobile platform, this doesn't seem to be the case.

The solution is to create a basic HTML webpage, open it via the browser on your phone, and select the template from there. Once the page has been formatted according to one's needs, clicking on the chosen template will load all the pre-defined info in the gmail app (unless another email client has been selected as default).

Seems complicated? More than I'd like it to be, but it's not that hard to set-up, and once it's done it works nicely. Best thing is, the file can be saved to the cloud, and can work from any device. This means, if I want users to email me info via templates, I can create a template list HTML file, then upload it to a cloud service, then have my team open it on their device, then just click, full out the email and send. Unless they have editing rights to the HTML file, they cannot modify my templates, they can only use them, and modify the content that they send via email.

First step is to create a file (either on mobile device or on a computer). Add HTML, head & body tags. Now in the head tag, add the following: <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" />

That will make the page responsive, meaning it'll look good on mobile browsing (instead of having to zoom in upon loading the page).

Next I would suggest is to make a list. Either use OL or UL (organized or unorganized list), for either numbering or bullets.
Each list item will contain one template. Here's the syntax for the email template:

<a href="mailto:somebody@somewhe.re?subject=Put%20Subject%20Here&body=Type%20body%20here.%0D%0A%0D%0ARegards,%0D%0A">Template One</a>

This creates Template One.

Here you are specifying a recipient, a subject and a body. An email link can support carbon copy and blind carbon copy as well. %20 creates a space, whereas %0D%0A creates a line break. No need to put your signature inside the template, as that will auto-load in the Gmail app or whichever email client you use if you have a signature set up.

Enjoy!

Cellphone Contracts in Canada, to upgrade or to port? That is the question

Don't have a cellphone yet in Canada? In that case when you get a new number, best to get a phone number from Saskatchewan, Manitoba or Quebec. Although you might pay a bit more in sales tax and 911 fees, you'll get better bang for your buck on the monthly plan.

You have a cellphone plan, but want a new phone? Now the ultimate question...to port or to upgrade... If you're currently on a no-term plan, then porting is fine if you're OK with the new provider's in-market plan. A BYOD plan that is grandfathered would most likely have to be repriced on an in-market plan. From experience, you'll get most retailer options with Robelus (Rogers, Bell, Telus) or their off-sets (Fido, Chatr, Virgin, Koodo). Choose PC Mobile and you'll be limited to getting your phone from Loblaw chain grocery stores, choose resellers like gas stations or Primus and you'll have even less options for where you can upgrade and what in-market phones are available.

I will admit that I've been rolling with lower priced phones, I don't have my home services bundled with one provider, so I have no advantage of going with the any Robelus brand. That being said, I've studied the Fido/Virgin/Koodo offers a bit more closely.

Koodo seems to be doing what most providers in the USofA are doing..."here's the BOYD mostly plan, then add your subsidy of $x for the phone"...as opposed to having set-priced plans to subsidize phones up to a certain amount. Only advantage with Koodo is that if you plan on using a high end phone, one that can last you well ever 2 years, once the subsidy of the phone is depleted, that portion of the monthly bill will kick off.

Fido and Virgin are although similar, Virgin seems to offer more monthly plan options. Fido's lowest tier plans on phone subsidies don't include data at the time of writing.

Best option plan-wise is to get a loyalty plan. Either with less than 12 months remaining on a phone subsidy term, or six months into a BYOD plan. Once on a loyalty plan, best to keep renewing it until something better comes up in-market.

Thinking of doing an early upgrade? It's certainly not a bad idea. Providers can credit up to $100 on the buy-out of your previous phone. Virgin/Bell might give you a hard time for it, but if the timing is right, keep calling until they agree to do it.

Where to upgrade? That's a good question. The carrier kiosks/stores (especially in malls) are the stingiest. They might throw in accessories if you haggle hard on a port. An upgrade is not considered a sale for them. The Source is the same way for Bell/Virgin. Wireless Wave/Tbooth &Wow Boutique will also only be a bit more generous on ports than upgrades, and their gift card promos are only for ports/new activations. To upgrade, best places to go are 3rd parties. PC Mobile Shop, BestBuy, maybe even Walmart or Costco. They'll likely sweep you off your feet with in-store gift cards, plus it won't be as painful to haggle on accessories.

For grey-market unlocked phones, Staples & Canada Computers have a great selection, followed by Walmart & BestBuy. No one will give you free accessories on a grey market phone, so it's often best to get the phone from the carrier, but through a 3rd party.

Now that you've upgraded your phone, what to do with the old one? Probably best not to trade it in. Unlock it at an online unlock code supplier that isn't shady. Expect to pay 10-25 for an unlock code. MobileXpressCanada is great, and to save on sales tax, you do have an Alberta shipping address, right? Seeing as the code is sent to your email address, really doesn't matter what the shipping address is.

Hope this helps.

Unlocking your phone? Careful when shopping around

I don't sell unlock codes for cellphones. However, I have ordered unlock codes periodically. Here's what I learned:

• iPhones are the most expensive devices to unlock
• Price is usually set according to the phone manufacturer, but sometimes dictated by carrier (such as Samsung Galaxy phones, more expensive to unlock on Bell network)
• It's worth shopping around, but only experiment with sites offering cheap prices if you're not in a hurry, because if they can't unlock your phone, you'll be waiting a couple weeks before you see your refund

In my experience, avoid TheUnlockTeam. They'll take your money, then they say they can't unlock your phone and refund the charge. They accept credit card only, no PayPal. Also avoid code-unlock-shop and its variants. They "calculate" your unlock code (sounds like a valet service), then don't get the code & promise a refund. Here's the catch...the older phones that they would be able to unlock are unlockable at a competitive price by the more expensive sites.

Many forum users recommend eBay. I have not yet purchased an unlock code from eBay, but when I shopped around, I couldn't find anything cheap on eBay.

Update: I recently purchased an unlock code off eBay, it was a front for a website. The website related to this was UnlockMeNow.ca, and it worked.

UnlockMeNow.ca is probably the cheapest on the market, except there's a catch. They leave it up to you to pick the database. That means if you're patient, you buy off the cheapest database your phone could fall under, and if it's not there, get your refund then try another database. My experience with this site was through eBay so the refund was very quick, meaning I didn't have to keep pulling full amounts out of pocket to try again, since the refund was sitting in PayPal.

I use CellUnlocker (PayPal accepted) and MobileXpressCanada (PayPal also accepted). CellUnlocker charges in USD but I use them when they charge under $20. MobileXpressCanada charges in CAD and charges sales tax (not so bad since sales tax in Alberta is only 5%). I am not affiliated with either site, just advocating not wasting time with sites who won't get unlock codes.

Do Not Buy OneSimCard, when they say rates are subject to change, they mean it!

OneSimCard, such a highly praised product on the Internet. Here's the breakdown:
The good:

• They offer competitive roaming rates
• They're an "online store" in the US, so no sales tax
• Their default SIM card will work in (almost) any unlocked SIM phone (regular SIM, micro & nano SIM)
• They have a VOIP app with *competitive* overseas calling rates
• Only requires an email address and credit card, unlike some destination countries that have serious ID requirements to activate even a pre-paid SIM
• Their customer support is also available via their website, and turnaround time is short for getting a reply with an email notification
• The account stays active for two years as of most recent top-up, meaning if you travel every one or two years, you can still leave it in your drawer the rest of the time and top up when you need it.

The bad:

• You're perpetually roaming with their SIM card, so if you're at home, you still would use your current mobile carrier, and if you're overseas, you'd probably get a pre-paid SIM with a local Wireless Service Provider (WSP). This also means that there are no monthly plans, no loyalty offers, it's a "take it or leave it"
• $30 USD is expensive in my opinion for a SIM card, considering I can get a pre-paid SIM card free in many countries as long as I add some credit (usually around $5). On the flip side, there can be discounts applied to this purchase (a web search will yield promo codes). Best discount year-round is an option if you manage to have a .mil email address.
• Your extra number (Canada or US) comes from a VOIP exchange (for Canada it's Fibernetics), and I don't think it's portable. There's no option to port a number to OneSimCard (that I could find, at the time of writing), meaning either way, if you want family to reach you when you're overseas, it'll have to be with an unfamiliar number.
• Their VOIP app looks like Android 2.x and requires a hard menu button to exit the app, features are very limited, certainly no material design! Plus you can login on the same account on multiple phones, but it'll only be able to call on one of them.

The Ugly:

• Not so good a VOIP option - using their VOIP app requires having a second local phone number on the account. The SIM card includes one Estonian number, and they give one complementary US number (or Canadian number if the user address in the account is in Canada, with no option to choose) for one month, but then it's $20 per year to maintain it, or an extra $5 on top of that if it expires and the user sets up a new extra number. For someone who just wants to use OneSimCard for VOIP, this is definitely something to factor in the equation.
• Rates are subject to change and they mean it! That's what this blog post is about.

I recently purchased a OneSimCard for the purpose of calling Uganda via VOIP. I called their support line twice and expressed my intentions. They never told me about the requirement for the extra number just to use their VOIP app. At the time that I called them (March 2015), it was 15c to landline, 16c to mobile to call Uganda. Since I was only interested in calling mobile, my decision was based on the 16c per minute. I also calculated how many minutes it'd take to recover the acquisition of the SIM card. The gentleman on the phone explained that rates are subject to change at any time without notice. He also said that because they own their own VOIP servers, that rates are more likely to go down with time than up. Now in April, I buy and try the OneSimCard service, only to find out that their rates to call Uganda via VOIP is 25c per minute (both landline and mobile). Their app which looks like Android 2.x doesn't even show call duration.

Here are some per minute rates to call Uganda at the time of writing:

• OneSimCard: 25c (both landline & mobile)
• RebTel: 27.8c (30 days), 24.9c (7 days) on their promo packs
• Skype: 13.3 or 13.7c (requires monthly subscription, part of monthly packs)
• MagicJack: 50c (plus there's most likely a recurring fee to use their overseas calling feature)
• Google Voice: 25c (both landline & mobile)

Now if OneSimCard's rates are the same as Google's rates, this is frightening. As I have lost credibility in OneSimCard, I suspect their prices might be dictated by Google.

I gave them one last chance to redeem themselves prior to posting this. I called them asking for a refund. They said because the SIM card had been used, I cannot return it, nor could they refund my outstanding credit on the account. If their rates improve, I might top up, but it'd have to improve drastically from 25c per minute to Uganda for me to justify activating a second phone number on the account (20 for the year plus 5 for activation).

Bottom line is don't buy a OneSimCard. If you want to be reachable overseas with a North American number, a voip-only solution is cheaper. If you're concerned about roaming for a few days abroad, ask your current provider about travel packs. If your phone isn't unlocked, unlock it online for $10-30 (you'd pay $30 for the OneSimCard anyway, which requires an unlocked phone). If you're shopping for a phone, consider getting a dual SIM phone, that way you can still get your texts (likely free depending on your carrier) while roaming, and use the other SIM card slot for a local prepaid service. Everyone's rates are subject to change without notice, but OneSimCard has shown that this can be exploited without remorse!