The cost of sending SMS to contacts while they are abroad can prove to be rather costly, but there are a number of services that help minimise this fee, or remove it altogether. One such app has arrived on the Windows Phone Store and is called yuilop (www.yuilop.me). The app, now available for Windows Phone 8 hardware, enables users to send free SMS to anyone with a mobile phone in the world.
What's good about the service is that recipients don't even need to have access to a yuilop app - their phone simply has to be able to handle receiving messages. We're pretty sure majority of handsets can these days. So how does it work and is it free? Well, it's not free per se (hello, advertisements), they have deployed their own virtual credit, but this can be earned without spending a penny. This credit (known as "energy") is spent on sending messages to other devices that do not have the app.
Here are some ways to earn this energy:
- Invite a friend to the yuilop service
- Receiving an SMS on the free Yuilop.me number
- Participate in promotions or redeem vouchers
Yuilop will synchronise with contacts from the People Hub, as well as any listings stored on the service itself. What's the incentive to invite people to use yuilop? There's no "energy" cost when messaging those who are also using the app. The app is available on Android, iOS and Windows Phone, opening up some room to invite those who may be on competitor platforms.
A notice regarding privacy is included in the app description, which goes into detail how the company doesn't share user data with third-parties. Conversations through yuilop are encrypted and a mobile number is also used as the user ID. Windows Phone Italy notes that yuilop will sport VoIP capabilities in the future.
You can download yuilop from the Windows Phone Store for free. via: Windows Phone Italy
