I really WANT to like Toktumi’s Line2 product. It’s got a reasonably easy setup, and the idea is killer.

But the value proposition, that it somehow acts like a second line for voice+texting, available from your phone or computer, is undermined by what is IMO truly shoddy SMS support. To whit:

Mere Annoyances:

  • No way to receive incoming SMS messages on your softphone.
  • No way to receive incoming SMS messages to your email.
  • No way to send SMS messages from your softphone.

**A Deal-killer: **

Throwing away parts of incoming SMS messages is a Bad Thing. We discovered this Line2 bug today:

If you send the following 150-character SMS text to a Toktumi Line2 number:

Your phone has JOINed 5 groups, including: Name 1 (650-555-1111) / Name Two (650-555-2222) / Name Three(509-555-3333) / Name four(415-555-4444) / Done<br></br>

Your line2 app throws away the last part, you see only:

Your phone has JOINed 5 groups, including: Name 1 (650-555-1111) / Name Two (650-555-2222) / Name Three(509-555-3333) / Name <del>four(415-555-4444) / Done</del><br></br>

At least, that’s the case for the iPad app.