1. What is SMS Gateway Emulator?

It is a free Android app that emulates APIs of popular SMS gateways like Twilio, Plivo, and Vonage (Nexmo). Turn your phone into a personal SMS gateway and send messages using popular SMS gateway APIs.

Hereafter, it will be referred to as it, the app, or the Emulator.

2. What is the app for?

• Test SMS gateway without registration

You can experience and test an SMS gateway API and SDK without registering on the gateway website. Instead of the gateway, SMS messages will be sent directly from your phone, allowing you to build prototypes quickly.

• Use as a temporary backup for production

This can serve as a temporary backup for your production SMS gateway. Switching to this solution requires minimal modification and ensures your SMS services remain operational during gateway downtime.

• Disable SIM slots to avoid real SMS sending

Turning off the emulator’s SIM slots can prevent real SMS messages from being sent during testing. This requires no changes to the server-side API request code, keeping your integration intact.

• Notifications without sending SMS

Simply give the phone number N:notification title. You can send a notification to yourself instead of sending a SMS message. This allows you to send alerts to you without modifying the server-side API request code or incurring SMS costs.

• Use as a production SMS gateway for small businesses

For small businesses, this solution can be used as a cost-effective production SMS gateway. It eliminates the need for third-party gateways while leveraging your phone for SMS delivery.

3. Is it free?

Yes. It is free to use. Ads will be displayed based on the number of messages sent.

Note: Carrier SMS charges may apply depending on your mobile plan.

4. How to use it?

• Download and install it on your Android device.
• Open it.
• Send SMS using your favourite SMS Gateway API and SDK.

There are 2 ways to emulate an SMS Gateway API.

1. Change the API url directly.

2. Via our Proxy Server. Your will need the CA certificate (sms_gateway_emulator_ca.crt) to do so.

There are two ways to trust the CA. The first one is in the code, and the specific implementation depends on the gateway's SDK. The second way involves installing the certificate in the system, which might simplifie the code. Both are not always effective, depending on the language and SDK. For example, if the language and network library do not trust the system's certificate, installing it to the system will not be effective.

Whatever you do, make sure to change your credentials, such as API_KEY → EMULATOR_API_KEY, SECRECT_KEY → EMULATOR_SECRET_KEY, FROM → EMULATOR_SENDER_ID.

5. What gateways are supported?

AfricasTalking, Bandwidth, Brevo (formerly Sendinblue), Infobip, MessageBird, Plivo, Telesign, TextLocal, Twilio, Vonage (formerly Nexmo), Zenvia.