Weekend poll: Do you prefer messaging apps that also support SMS?
Messaging on Android is better than ever, asGoogle finally got its act together by focusing on RCS. Of course, in the decade it took to build a platform worthy of rivaling iMessage, plenty of third-party clients have burst onto the scene. When it comes to privacy and security,it’s hard to beat Signal, but the app found itself in some hot water with fans this week aftersuddenly dropping SMS support. To some, that might seem like the loss of a much-have feature. For others, you might not even notice.
Signal’s explanation is long and thorough, explaining that the change primarily comes down to security concerns. After all, SMS messages aren’t encrypted — Signal’s raison d’être — which limits user privacy, even if that’s not necessarily the service’s fault. The developers also worried that users might be charged for using SMS without realizing it, something that is an issue on phone plans outside of the US. Naturally, plenty of users found the missing feature immediately frustrating. After all, it’s tough to go back to two apps if you’ve come to rely on Signal as your SMS client.
These days, only a handful of other dedicated messaging services also support SMS. Facebook Messenger, for example, pulls double-duty as an SMS client, though Meta’s other two apps — WhatsApp and Instagram — do not. You could make an argument for Google Messages as well, whichprefers RCS messaging whenever available. Unfortunately, RCS really only exists between Android devices right now, and while that accounts for billions of people around the globe, it leaves out anyone with an iPhone.
Keeping one app feels like an easy solution, but if you mostly rely on SMS for two-factor authentication and other automated messages, it probably doesn’t benefit you to keep those threads alongside group chats. Meanwhile, apps like Google Messages are required for RCS on Android; third-party RCS services aren’t a thing on the Play Store, unlike SMS clients. In many ways, you’re better off leaving Messages set as your default SMS app, if only for that reason alone.
So, what do our readers think? Do you want all of your messages, regardless of their context, kept in one single app, or do you prefer having multiple services kept on your phone for different uses? Personally, thanks to RCS, I like to keep Google Messages set as my SMS client, though I do most of my messaging through services like Signal anyway. I wouldn’t be surprised to see many of our readers feel the same way.
Do you prefer messaging apps that also support SMS?
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