People are using text messages like email. Quick question for a friend? Text them. Found something you want to share with someone? Text it to them. Appointment reminder from your doctor? By text.

Not that long ago, this was all done by email. But the cat is out of the bag and no way in hell is it getting back in there. The problem is that native SMS apps are ill suited for the volume and the management required of these communications.

What do I mean? Some simple things like 'mark as unread' (ie 'don't forget about this one') to potentially more complex like tagging or threading.

Is anyone working on this? Are barriers to entry too high, as the OS makers and cell providers have all the control?

FWIW, my experience is based solely on SMS and iMessage on Apple devices.