The company, founded in 2013 by Eric Bryant and Shari Sloane, was based in Bedminster, New Jersey, USA, part of the New York metropolitan area.

Information Text Engine retrieved included news, definitions, Wikipedia articles, business listings, driving directions and flight status.

[5] In June 2015, popular tech blog, MakeUseOf, reported that “Text Engine is an attempt to bring back the spirit of Google’s SMS search, and it’s a fairly ambitious one at that.” Text Engine did not require a downloadable app, web browser or internet access to function, making the Web accessible for feature phone and flip phone users.

Text Engine had users in countries around the world, including Botswana, Uganda, Namibia, Nigeria, the Philippines, Australia, Mongolia and Pakistan.

The platform essentially converted the Web to text messages, allowing users to get on-demand weather, news, yellow pages, flight status, and more—all without having direct access to the Internet.