This tutorial provides a comprehensive guide on how to receive SMS messages in a browser using the Vonage SMS API, Ably real-time messaging platform, Next.js, and Vercel. The app uses Ably for pub/sub messaging between users, allowing them to send and receive text messages in real-time as they are received. To build this app, developers need to create an Ably account, a virtual phone number from Vonage, and install the necessary dependencies such as Node.js, Next.js, and Vercel. The app will use Vercel's serverless functions to authenticate with Ably and handle incoming SMS messages. The tutorial covers how to set up the Ably SDK, create a serverless function to connect to Ably, and build the React component to display received SMS messages in real-time. The final step involves hosting the app on Vercel and setting up an SMS number for the app.