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Specifically on an Android phone? I have the Galaxy S4 and I just downloaded it so I could text with my friend in Australia.

She sent me a message and I received a notification, but when I opened Skype it wasn't there. Then she said she tried to call me and I didn't get anything. I'm not sure if I can receive calls because I didn't sign up for the pay service. The only credit card I have is for Victoria Secret and I doubt that one will work

I need help getting this thing to work right. I also had one conversation going with my other friend in FL. I sent her a response and that response (if any of this makes sense) started a new thread and is still saying pending. Why wouldn't it just stay with our conversation?

Is there a different text service I could use so I can text with my friend in Australia? She has the Iphone.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks so much!

It's been a bit since I used skype on my android, but if I recall correctly, I had to be logged in and have the app open to get calls and notifications. Were you logged in and had the app open when your friend tried to call?

I'm not sure on the texting thing; I don't use it to text. There are a lot of free texting apps out there tough - I would do a play store search for "free international texting" and see what pops up with high ratings.

I'm logged in, but the app isn't open all the time. I received a notification about her text, but not the call. When I opened the app her text wasn't there, but when I logged into my hotmail account her text showed up there. Weird.

I believe you have to remain logged in on the app. How did she call you? Skype to Skype calls are free, and there should be no reason to put in your card information. We have used Skype on a daily basis for the last 4 years to talk to some friends (and each other when we are apart), and have never paid for the service.

Also if you sent her a response and it still says pending that means she has not received the response yet. Skype can be buggy that way, sometimes.

I stay logged in to Skype on my Iphone, and it shows to all of my friends that I am available. I get more notifications on my iphone than on my desktop (which I am logged in there as well, but in offline mode).

[This message edited by Dark Inertia at 2:32 PM, January 6th (Monday)]

Android is designed to auto close apps that are inactive to save your battery (iPhone doesn't do this), so even if you're logged in, you still have to actually have the app open and running.

Try Tango instead; you can text or call and the app doesn't have to be running to receive the call or the text, and it's free. You both have to have the app for it to be free, though.

The few problems I've had are that sometimes the calls and texts were delayed, and it worked best on wifi.

Thanks! Another friend of mine just told me about Tango. I'll keep it in mind. We were able to get Skype working last night and we had a video call. It was fun and the kids were so excited. It was difficult to get them settled down for bed. When my daughter woke she asked when we can go to Australia

I use Tango on android all around the US and to and from Australia and other places outside the US. When you download it, it automatically lets you know anyone in your phone address book who also has it.

One drawback is that it can be erratic. Sometimes shuts down, delays sending messages, or just isn't available. Basically pretty good, though. You can video or voice talk, text, send photos, the whole gamut.

I'm glad that you managed to use it to speak to your friend "live". Like Dark Inertia, I use Skype on an almost daily basis, for both inland and international calls, as well as messaging. (It has saved me a LOT of money on calls to my family abroad!) Nowadays, I often opt to use Skype rather than my landline, because the sound quality is so much better. I mostly use it on computers, but occasionally also on my phone. A few ideas...

- When the message says "pending" it usually means that it arrived after the other party had logged out. She should see a notification about it next time she logs into Skype.

I'm not clear about the notification on your hotmail account. Are you using the hotmail address for the rest of the phone? If you close the Skype application on a computer, Skype will log you out, even if you don't actually sign out. I'm fairly sure that it's the same on the phone. So if you use a different email address for other apps, could it be that you see the notifications for those on the main screen or whatever, but you don't see the Skype notifications there unless you're signed into your hotmail account?

- If you use Skype in more than one place (eg on two computers, or your computer and your phone) the past messages do not usually show up on the machine you were not using for the conversation until both you and the other party are logged in again simultaneously. And/or you open Machine #s 1 and 2 simultaneously.

- You may need to change your settings, if you want your past conversations to show up all the time.

- With Skype you can send both free messages and ordinary text messages (ie those you would normally send with a cellphone). Initially, the difference between the two can be confusing.

The free messages are like the old AOL instant messages, or chat messages on Facebook. You can only send them to other Skype accounts. So if you and your friend both have Skype accounts, you can sign into your account on either your phone or your computer and send as many messages as you want. You'll have to pay your phone company for any payable data usage, but Skype won't charge you anything.

If you want to use Skype to send a normal text message to a phone number, rather than to a Skype account, you have to pay per message and thus need to register a credit card with them.

I have found the Skype help forum really useful in sorting out the few problems I have encountered.

When I got my first smartphone this year, I started using a texting application called "Whatsapp". That enabled me to exchange free text messages with my relatives abroad. It seemed to work fine, but because of my sausage fingers I text very little, so I haven't really used Whatsapp enough to know whether it's worth recommending. I have a relative in the UK who happily uses it all the time for free inland messaging, though.

PS Thank you, Sad in AZ and Thebighurt for the Tango recommendation and advice!

[This message edited by Cally60 at 6:05 PM, January 7th (Tuesday)]

You're welcome, Cally.

We used whatsapp before finding Tango. It's still on my phone, but I keep getting messages from them saying there will be a charge for the service soon. That date keeps being pushed out with each subsequent message I get. Haven't used it since we all got on Tango because it was limited to messaging. Reminder to self: Delete whatsapp!