

Ask HN: How do I create a web based group SMS application? - chiikod

I have heard about Groupme but I want something that can work here in Africa. I have an idea of how it will work but I don't know how to start. Anyone willing to help me especially on building a web based application where users can login to check who has joined/left the group.
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mryan
If I were attempting to solve this problem I would...

) Find an African SMS gateway which offers an API to send/receive messages.
You could probably make this work with an SMS to email gateway as well,
although it would add some complexity.

) Build a web application which acts as a multi-group chat server, where
people can join/leave groups and chat to other members of the group. If you're
not familiar with the process of building a web app, this will be a lot easier
than going straight for the mobile version.

) Add a REST API to this web app, and build an Android/iOS app which connects
to the API.

) Add SMS support to the web app. Use control messages (e.g. "/join
some_channel") to join/leave groups. Figure out how to route SMS messages to a
particular group - when an SMS is received for that group, use the API to send
the content to other group members.

This could be implemented with a variety of stacks - personally I would go
with Django for the web app, with Redis as a backend. Redis would be great for
storing group membership, and I'm sure you could do something interesting with
pub/sub for the messaging component.

