To send an ecard by text, make it on your phone, then text it one of two ways: the video file itself, or a share link that opens a plain web page and plays the card. Either way, the person getting it doesn't need an app. Here's the whole thing on Tangy Limes, start to finish, plus which of the two to pick.
Make it on your phone
- Open tangylimes.com in your phone's browser. There's nothing to install.
- Pick a card. Vertical ones like Make a Wish or Merry Christmas fill a phone screen.
- Add a photo from your camera roll, or take one right there. Facing the camera, mouth visible.
- Type who it's to and who it's from, and rewrite the big headline if you have a better line.
- Watch the preview with your faces in it, for free.
If a head looks too big for its dancer, shrink it. If you picked the wrong photo, swap it. If your brother somehow ended up as the lead singer, move him. None of that costs anything.
Video file or share link
Send the video file when you're texting over iMessage, WhatsApp or another chat app. Download the MP4 and send it like any video from your camera roll, and it plays right in the thread. It's also yours to keep, post or send again next year if you're feeling lazy.
Send a share link when you're not sure what they'll open it on, when it's a group chat with a mix of phones, or over plain text messaging, where a video can arrive squashed. The link opens a plain web page that plays the card. Nothing to install, nothing to sign in to.
Email it if they're an email person. From the card page you can send it to up to five people at once.
Cards built for phones
Make a Wish puts the birthday face next to a tiered cake taller than they are, then under a rainbow balloon arch, on a karaoke stage and at a backyard party with confetti cannons.
Merry Christmas is a living room with a giant glowing tree, a snowy street strung with lights, a kitchen with a gingerbread house and a fireplace with stockings.
Wedding Day Again is for an anniversary: a reception hall with string lights, a dance floor under a disco ball and church steps with petals falling.
Left on Read is for the person you're texting who still hasn't texted you back. Send it to them. See what happens.
Any card can also be saved as 9:16 to fill a phone screen, or as 16:9, 1:1 or 4:5 if it's headed somewhere else.
What it costs
The preview is free. Keeping a card is $1.99, with no subscription and no account needed for a single card. If you know you'll send a few, there's a 3-card pack for $4.99 with a free account.
The best time to text it is the morning of. The second best time is now, before you forget again.