SMS Forwarder

An SMS Forwarder is an Android app that automatically intercepts incoming text messages and relays them to another destination — such as a webhook URL, email inbox, or another phone number — without any manual action. SMS Forwarder v3.4 uses a high-priority BroadcastReceiver (priority 999) and a persistent ForegroundService, ensuring zero missed messages even with the screen off. No root required.

Download the free APK, install it, tap + (FAB) to add a rule, choose Webhook as destination, paste your URL (n8n Production URL, Zapier Catch Hook, Make.com webhook, your own REST API), set any sender/keyword filter, and toggle ON. Enable Expert Mode to customise the JSON payload shape and add HTTP headers like Authorization: Bearer TOKEN. The app POSTs {sender, body, timestamp} and any extracted values.

Go to Settings → SMTP Configuration and enter your mail server details (host, port, username, password). Then add a rule: choose Email destination, enter your email address. Set sender filter to your bank's ID (e.g. "HDFC") or keyword "OTP". Enable Auto-OTP extraction mode. The {OTP} placeholder will contain the extracted code. Every matching SMS is forwarded to your inbox within seconds — completely automatically, even when your phone is locked.

In n8n: create a Webhook node → copy the Production URL. In Zapier: Webhooks by Zapier → Catch Hook → copy the URL. In Make.com: add a Custom Webhook module → copy the URL. Then in SMS Forwarder: add a rule, choose Webhook, paste the URL. Enable Expert Mode to add Authorization headers or customise the JSON template to match your automation platform's expected format. The app will trigger your workflow on every matching SMS in real time.

Yes. ForwardingService is a ForegroundService with a persistent status bar notification — Android cannot kill it automatically. BootReceiver restarts it after reboots. START_STICKY tells Android to recreate it if killed by memory pressure. The app prompts you to disable battery optimisation on first launch via Settings.ACTION_REQUEST_IGNORE_BATTERY_OPTIMIZATIONS. Additionally, SmsReceiver (priority 999) intercepts messages independently of the service state.

Yes. The app reads the Subscription ID from the incoming SMS intent to identify which SIM received it. Each forwarding rule can independently target Any SIM, SIM 1 only, or SIM 2 only. When forwarding to another phone number, you can also choose which SIM to use for sending the outgoing message.

SMS Forwarder is 100% privacy-first. All SMS processing happens locally on your device — no messages, no metadata, no rule data is ever sent to the developer or any third-party server. There is no analytics, no telemetry, no ads. The optional Google Drive backup uses DriveScopes.DRIVE_FILE (restricted scope — the app can only access files it created) and saves only your rule configurations to your own Drive — completely inaccessible to the developer.

No. SMS Forwarder uses only standard Android APIs — the SMS_RECEIVED broadcast intent and SmsManager. It works on any non-rooted Android 10+ device from any manufacturer (Samsung, Xiaomi, OnePlus, Realme, Vivo, Oppo, stock Android). No modifications to the system partition are needed or made.

Without loop detection, if Phone A (running SMS Forwarder) forwards to Phone B (also running SMS Forwarder), and Phone B has a rule that forwards back to Phone A, you get an infinite SMS chain that can generate hundreds of messages per minute. RuleValidator detects these circular graphs before execution and blocks the forward. Affected rules are marked with a red warning indicator in the MainActivity card list so you can fix the configuration.

In AddEditRuleActivity, choose "Regex" as the extraction mode and enter a regular expression with capture groups. SMS Forwarder applies it to every matching message body and exposes the captured groups as template variables. Useful for extracting: transaction amounts from bank alerts, order IDs from delivery SMS, custom OTP formats that Auto-OTP doesn't detect, or any structured data from a specific SMS format.

Yes, SMS Forwarder v3.4.0 is completely free to download and use — with no in-app purchases, no ads, no subscriptions, and no accounts required. The app is proprietary, closed-source, and distributed directly on GitHub as a pre-compiled APK.

SMS Forwarder is distributed as a direct APK download from GitHub, not through the Google Play Store. This is common for SMS-reading apps because Google Play has strict restrictions on apps that access SMS content. Download the APK directly from the GitHub Releases page. Google Play Protect may warn you — this is a standard false positive for SMS-permission apps from trusted repositories on GitHub.

SMS Forwarder v3.4.0 requires Android 10 (API 29) or higher. It targets Android 15 (API 36). Tested and confirmed working on Android 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15. Compatible with all major Android OEM skins: One UI (Samsung), MIUI/HyperOS (Xiaomi), OxygenOS (OnePlus), Realme UI, ColorOS (Oppo), OriginOS (Vivo), and stock Android.