Preview generators

SMS message preview generator

Create realistic text message mockups for iPhone and Android: sender number, message bubbles, and live SMS segment counts, exported as a PNG.

Conversation

3 messages from you, 3 SMS segments. GSM-7: 160 characters in one segment, 153 each once a message splits.

Preview
Background
12:34
41063
Text Message · SMS
Today 12:34 PM
Your order 4821 has shipped. Track it here: crr.to/4h2k9
Out for delivery, arriving today between 3 and 5 PM.
Can you leave it at the front door?
Will do. We'll text a photo once it's there.
Text Message · SMS

Instructions

How to use this tool

  1. 01Enter the sender name or phone number your recipients will see.
  2. 02Add each message as its own row, and set whether it came from you or the customer.
  3. 03Watch the counter: it tallies the messages you send and their SMS segments, ignoring the replies.
  4. 04Toggle between iPhone and Android rendering.
  5. 05Click Download PNG to export the conversation mockup.

Background

SMS segments and why 160 matters

A single SMS carries 160 characters in the GSM-7 alphabet. Longer messages are split into 153-character segments and stitched back together on the phone, and each segment bills separately. One emoji or curly quote outside GSM-7 switches the whole message to UCS-2 encoding, dropping the budget to 70 characters per segment, which is the most common cause of surprise SMS bills.

This tool's counter assumes GSM-7. If you use emoji or non-Latin characters, expect the segment count to roughly double.

Background

Transactional SMS conventions

Keep transactional texts short, front-load the payload (codes first: Your code is 284916 survives truncation and autofill better than prose), and identify yourself, since short codes carry no caller ID. In the US, include opt-out language like Reply STOP to opt out on marketing messages; it is a carrier requirement under CTIA guidelines and TCPA rules.

Links belong at the end, shortened, and on a domain you control. Carriers filter messages with public shorteners like bit.ly aggressively.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

How many characters fit in one SMS?

160 characters using the GSM-7 alphabet. Longer texts split into 153-character segments, and any emoji or special character switches the encoding to UCS-2, where each segment holds only 70 characters.

Why did my SMS cost two segments?

Either it exceeded 160 GSM-7 characters, or it contains a character outside GSM-7 (an emoji, curly quote, or accented letter), which halves the per-segment budget. Both are easy to miss without a counter.

Do I need to include STOP language?

For US marketing and recurring messages, yes: carriers require clear opt-out instructions like Reply STOP to opt out, and honoring STOP is mandatory. Purely transactional one-time messages have more leeway, but including it is safest.

Can I show a business name instead of a phone number?

It depends on the country. Alphanumeric sender IDs work in much of Europe and Asia but are not supported for US local numbers, where recipients see the number itself. This mockup lets you preview either.

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