Text messaging has transformed language into a kind of coded parlance that can be puzzling or outright indecipherable for recipients who do not follow SMS trends, which probably start in classrooms across the world. In order to help those with difficulties understanding abbreviations and obscure acronyms used in English, British software developer DCML has greated TextGenie, which translates the increasingly cryptic SMS messages the younger generation tends to use.
The app includes a pre-installed 1,500-word lexicon of phrases, which can be expanded by the user so they can build their own customized dictionary. It will decipher the text language from incoming SMS messages and convert them into plain English. The user receives notifications as the messages arrive. The TextGenie platform works alongside the normal message application and is designed to work with Android smartphones.
While by now it should appear that most of us would be fairly savvy with SMS chat abbreviations, it's virtually impossible to keep up. Phrases such as 2U2 are fairly easy to guess, but what about AWGTHTGTTA (Are We Going To Have To Go Through This Again?) If you have trouble with such phrases, you’re not alone: 84 percent of parents said they received messages from their children that they could not understand, according to a survey carried out by DCML.
The company's marketing is aimed at those parents who scratch their heads when they receive one of those messages, although anyone who’s not a teenager partial to keying in a fairly long message in five seconds will probably benefit from the app ... and considering that teenagers tend to text more than make phone calls, the app could be a face-saver for anyone one who wants to look cool with the kids.
TextGenie costs £0.89 (US$1.40) to download from Google Play.
Source: TextGenie