With CyanogenMod 10.2 recently released and the Samsung Galaxy S4 still waiting on Android 4.3, it only makes sense that the coveted features from both firmwares are highly desired by Android owners all over.

We’ve already brought you a feature from each firmware—the cLock home/lock screen widget from CyanogenMod and the Google Play Edition Camera and Gallery from Android 4.3. Now we’re bringing you another in the form of an updated text messaging application, ported from both Android 4.3 and CyanogenMod 10.2.

Downloading 88sms and Getting Started

88sms, the ported text messaging app from developer bengtan, is a slight variation of the current stock text messaging app currently running on the Galaxy S4.

After downloading and installing the app, you’ll see that the New Message icon is now at the bottom left, with the top of the app now featuring a Search messaging field, for easy text message finding. The colors are also slightly different, with a darker grayish/black tone replacing the original Samsung blue.

If you tap on New message, you’ll see that the Attachment icon is now at the top left and the Send message icon is replaced with an arrow, identical to the one used in the stock Gmail app.

Gesture SMS Templates

When you’re sending a message, you can use drawn gestures in the place of a template. If you want to create one, head over to Settings -> SMS Templates and tap on Templates.

Insert a template text, draw a gesture to take its place, and press save. From New message, feel free to draw the gesture in the empty space between the screen. When you’re done drawing, the text will appear.

Receiving Text Messages & Notifications

When you receive text messages, you’ll get a dark direct reply pop-up, as well as a notification in the pull-down Notification tray.

Note: As you can see, I didn’t get any notifications from the stock messaging app. If you want to get rid of these, simply go to Messaging -> tap on Menu -> Settings and uncheck Notifications.

Settings

If you want to tinker with the features of 88sms, head over to the in-app settings. From there you can mess with several things such as—

• Set text message limits (for deletion)
• Group messaging
• Types of notifications
• Hide sender and message in status bar for privacy
• Change theme
• Gesture trace/sensitivity
• Enable emoji support

If you decide to change the theme, you can go from the default “light” theme to a dark theme (like in the screenshots below).

The addition features make 88sms a great alternative to the stock text messaging app, with a great looking UI that makes the whole experience much better. Check out the application and let us know your thoughts!