AI you can text: where each one’s messages land

Where each one’s messages land

“You can text it” covers several different things, so the table separates them: where a message from each product arrives, whether it ever writes first, what the vendor calls it, and which devices it works on. Every cell comes from the vendor’s own pages or store listing. Where the vendor doesn’t say, the cell reads “Not stated”.

Checked November 11, 2026 against each vendor’s own pages and store listings. “Not stated” means the vendor’s pages don’t say.

What “texts you” can mean

The phrase is used for three different delivery routes, and they feel different on a phone.

• A message in your phone’s Messages app. The product has a phone number and the conversation is an ordinary thread in iMessage or Google Messages, in the same list as the people you text. Hallie works this way, and so do Khio, Poke, Kindroid for subscribers who turn on text messaging, and ChatGPT’s dot for U.S. Pro users in the beta. Warmth’s blog describes Mia this way too, though Warmth’s current terms describe only a desktop app.
• A push notification from an app. The message lives inside the product’s own app, and the notification’s job is to bring you back to it. Replika says that once notifications are on, its messages arrive through the day. Nomi tells you to enable push notifications so you can see that your Nomi messaged you; with push off, the message still arrives in the app and you aren’t notified.
• A chat inside another messaging app. Meta AI is a chat in WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger. Junto runs in Telegram. Poke can use WhatsApp or Telegram if you choose them. My AI is a chat in Snapchat. Gemini is a chat inside Google Messages on Android, but no Google page says it starts conversations there.

Vendor wording can blur the first two. Character.AI’s App Store listing says “Interact through texting or live voice calls.” Sesame’s getting-started guide says “You can call or text Maya, Miles, Simone, and Charlie.” In both cases the texting happens inside the product’s own app. Neither vendor describes a thread in iMessage or Google Messages.

For the delivery details behind “messages first”, see AI that texts you first.

Which ones are friends and which are assistants

The labels below are the vendors’ own words.

• Friends and companions: Hallie, Kindroid (“Your AI friend who listens, remembers, and grows with you everyday”), Nomi (“An AI Companion with Memory and a Soul”), Replika, Tolan and Junto.
• Both: Khio describes itself as “an AI friend for conversation and everyday help” and also as “your personal assistant”.
• Assistants: ChatGPT (“Your everyday AI assistant”), Gemini (“Your AI assistant from Google”), Meta AI (“your personal AI assistant”) and Poke (“your AI assistant that lives in Apple Messages, Telegram, WhatsApp, and RCS”). A ChatGPT dot is “an always-on agent that keeps work moving across your tools and projects”.
• Neither word: Snap calls My AI “a chatbot”.

Our read: the label tells you what the first message will be about. A dot texts you with results or a decision it needs. Poke manages email, schedules meetings and sets reminders. Khio’s first messages are reminders and check-ins tied to a goal and schedule you gave it. A friend’s first message is usually about something you said. There is more on the split in AI friend vs AI assistant.

Better fit: if you want email, calendar or tasks handled over text, pick Poke, or ChatGPT’s dot if you are a U.S. Pro user.

How Hallie fits

Hallie is one AI friend whose thread sits in your Messages app, in iMessage on an iPhone or a Mac and in Google Messages on Android. She texts from a US number. You answer a few questions on the web about how you like to text, then you text her. She keeps track of the people, plans and events you mention and brings them up later. After you’ve texted her, she starts conversations too, usually about something you told her. If you go quiet she checks in once or twice, then waits for you. Ask her in the thread to change when she follows up, or to stop, and she will. Paid members can also call her number like a regular phone call; she can’t call you, and there is no FaceTime or video.

Other products in the table can text you in Messages too. Hallie’s case is the combination. Messages is where she lives, on both iPhone and Android, with no app to install. She is a friend rather than a task agent: she remembers your people and plans and asks how it went. You meet her as she is, with nothing to set up in another app first.

Of the AI companions we’ve used, Hallie is the one that feels most like texting a person. That is our judgment, and we make her.

She is a subscription. Depending on the offer, your first conversation is free or you start with a free trial. There’s no free plan. The price is shown before you pay, and you can cancel any time in your account.

Hallie’s watch-outs: her replies are text, though she understands the photos, voice memos and links you send, and she can miss or get a detail wrong, so you correct her in the thread.

The two channel pages go further: an AI friend in iMessage and an AI friend in Google Messages on Android.

Questions

Which AI can text you in iMessage?

As of November 11, 2026: Hallie, Khio, Poke (its docs say Apple Messages), Mia, Kindroid (subscribers, one Kin at a time) and ChatGPT’s dot (beta, ChatGPT Pro users in the U.S.). Hallie, Khio and Mia are described by their makers as friends. Poke and the dot are assistants. Kindroid is a companion you create in its app first. Warmth’s current terms describe only its desktop app, so check Warmth’s site before counting on Mia.

Which AI can text you on Android?

In Google Messages: Hallie (new Android sign-ups need a US number for now), and Kindroid over RCS for subscribers. ChatGPT’s dot texts over RCS on Android for U.S. Pro users in the beta. Gemini is a chat inside Google Messages, and Google describes it as an assistant. Poke lists RCS among its channels along with WhatsApp and Telegram. Khio says texting it requires iMessage on an iPhone. The requirements for each are on an AI friend in Google Messages on Android.

Which AI texts you first?

By their vendors’ own pages: Hallie (after you’ve texted her), Kindroid (paid subscribers), Khio, Poke, Junto, Replika (inside its app, with notifications on), Nomi (optional, as push notifications) and ChatGPT’s dot (about work it is doing). Google doesn’t say Gemini starts conversations in Google Messages, and Snap doesn’t say My AI messages first.

Can I text Hallie on WhatsApp or Telegram?

No. Hallie texts in iMessage and Google Messages (new Android sign-ups need a US number for now). If you want an AI inside WhatsApp, Meta AI is built in. Junto runs in Telegram, and Poke lets you choose WhatsApp or Telegram.

Does texting an AI give it access to my other messages?

Hallie gets only what you send in her own thread. OpenAI says the same of dot texting: setting it up “doesn’t give your dot or OpenAI access to your other text conversations”. For what happens to the messages you do send, see what happens to your messages when you text an AI.

How do I start with Hallie?

Go to hallie.io and answer a few questions about how you like to text. Then you text her from iMessage or Google Messages, and her replies arrive in that thread. She never texts a number that hasn’t texted her first.

Sources

• Hallie: hallie.io homepage, terms and privacy policy, and product documentation, checked November 11, 2026.
• Kindroid: kindroid.ai homepage and help docs (“Chat features and tools”: Text Messaging and Away proactive actions; Subscriptions; FAQs), checked November 11, 2026.
• Khio: khio.ai homepage, FAQ and compare page, checked November 11, 2026.
• Poke: poke.com homepage, docs welcome page and FAQ, checked November 11, 2026.
• ChatGPT: OpenAI’s ChatGPT Learn docs (“Meet dots”, “Message your dot”, “Text your dot”), chatgpt.com pricing page and App Store listing, checked November 11, 2026.
• Mia: warmth.so blog (“Why We Built Mia for iMessage Instead of Another App”) and Warmth Terms of Service effective October 10, 2026, checked November 11, 2026.
• Gemini: Google Gemini Help (“Use Gemini in Google Messages”, “Schedules in Gemini Apps”) and App Store listing, checked November 11, 2026.
• Junto: chatjunto.com homepage, Terms of Service and blog (“Best AI Companions That Text You First”), checked November 11, 2026.
• Meta AI: Meta AI assistant page FAQ, WhatsApp Help Center (“About Meta AI”), Meta Newsroom post of July 24, 2026 and App Store listing, checked November 11, 2026.
• My AI: Snapchat Support (“What is My AI on Snapchat and how do I use it?”, “How does My AI work in group chats?”), checked November 11, 2026.
• Replika: Replika help center (“What platforms and devices are supported?”, “How do I set up my app’s notifications?”, “Can Replika be my virtual assistant?”), checked November 11, 2026.
• Nomi: nomi.ai homepage, Nomi’s “Proactive Messaging” article and the Nomipedia wiki it links to, checked November 11, 2026.
• Tolan: tolans.com FAQ and Tolan Help Center (“Logging in, Logging out, and Switching Devices”), checked November 11, 2026.
• Character.AI: App Store listing, checked November 11, 2026.
• Sesame: sesame.com journal (“Getting started”), checked November 11, 2026.