4 ms·

their messaging strategy is to support any messaging app you want to use as a first-class experience. SMS or RCS notifications aren't treated as any special ca

their messaging strategy is to support any messaging app you want to use as a first-class experience. SMS or RCS notifications aren't treated as any special case that gets priority over any other messaging app. If you want to use signal as your primary messaging app, android is happy to support that.

bredren 6y ago
Is SMS the default configuration for messaging on new Android devices these days?
- nradov 6y ago
  What kind of default are you asking about? You can open any app you want and send a message.
  - Spivak 6y ago
    I think they're talking about the fact that on Android you select a single default app to manage your text messages.
    - notatoad 6y ago
      Yes, there's a default app to handle SMS. And Google would like you to use Google Messages for that, which is inherently non-private because SMS (and RCS) aren't private. but there's nothing about SMS that makes it a default other than it's what most people use. You have to open an app to send a message, there's no default way of sending a message where you aren't choosing an app first, and if you want something private and secure, you can choose something other than SMS.
      - bredren 6y ago
        I think by 'default' I meant on the home screen of apps on a factory-new Android phone, presumably one messenger app is pre-installed and on that list. Perhaps, even configured as part of a phone onboarding experience. I was guessing this would be an SMS-based app.
        tssva 6y ago
        It is usually a SMS-based app but it is not the same one for all factory-new Android phones. Some manufacturers will ship with Google Messages and some such as Samsung have their own messaging apps which will be the default in most but not all cases. If purchased through a carrier sometimes the default app will be the carrier's messaging app even if the phone manufacturer has their own.
        etbebl 6y ago
        This must be the disconnect. As an Android user, it wouldn't occur to me that the "default" messaging app (usually something barebones and ugly) would influence how I send my messages. I just use whatever app I want, SMS or not. But unlike Android, Apple managed to popularize its own all-in-one messaging solution and in so doing brought encryption to more conversations. Google could try to do something like that with Android, but thus far they've simply remained agnostic.
  - damnyou 6y ago
    I'm guessing they're an iOS user, where the built-in messaging app iMessage is treated as more special than other messaging apps.
    - bredren 6y ago
      It is much more special, because afaik it is the only one that can hook into SMS coming from the carrier. Other messenger apps can be downloaded and installed, but they can only do digital messaging. If you are on Android and you use Signal, but text some random other android user's phone number that uses a pure sms messaging app, is any part of that conversation encrypted?
      - damnyou 6y ago
        If the other phone is associated with a Signal account at all (regardless of operating system), it will use the Signal transport, otherwise SMS. The Signal UI makes it clear when you're sending unencrypted text messages.
dforrestwilson 6y ago
Be real. Opting for security and privacy vs a default lack thereof.
- lern_too_spel 6y ago
  You mean like on-by-default plain text backups on iCloud? The difference is that on Android, you can change to an app that is actually secure (without a MITM key server vulnerability like iMessage) and have it be used by everything.
- damnyou 6y ago
  As the other commenter points out, Apple's hands are just as dirty as Google's in this matter. iMessage is only end-to-end encrypted if you turn off cloud backups, and most people have them on so in practice it's not so. And turning them off on your end doesn't help either if even one participant in the conversation has them on. WhatsApp has the exact same problem with unencrypted backups. End-to-end encryption at large scale is not really something American mega-corporations can provide, unfortunately.
  - dforrestwilson 6y ago
    Did not know that. Thanks!

bredren 6y ago

Is SMS the default configuration for messaging on new Android devices these days?

nradov 6y ago
What kind of default are you asking about? You can open any app you want and send a message.
- Spivak 6y ago
  I think they're talking about the fact that on Android you select a single default app to manage your text messages.
  - notatoad 6y ago
    Yes, there's a default app to handle SMS. And Google would like you to use Google Messages for that, which is inherently non-private because SMS (and RCS) aren't private. but there's nothing about SMS that makes it a default other than it's what most people use. You have to open an app to send a message, there's no default way of sending a message where you aren't choosing an app first, and if you want something private and secure, you can choose something other than SMS.
    - bredren 6y ago
      I think by 'default' I meant on the home screen of apps on a factory-new Android phone, presumably one messenger app is pre-installed and on that list. Perhaps, even configured as part of a phone onboarding experience. I was guessing this would be an SMS-based app.
      - tssva 6y ago
        It is usually a SMS-based app but it is not the same one for all factory-new Android phones. Some manufacturers will ship with Google Messages and some such as Samsung have their own messaging apps which will be the default in most but not all cases. If purchased through a carrier sometimes the default app will be the carrier's messaging app even if the phone manufacturer has their own.
      - etbebl 6y ago
        This must be the disconnect. As an Android user, it wouldn't occur to me that the "default" messaging app (usually something barebones and ugly) would influence how I send my messages. I just use whatever app I want, SMS or not. But unlike Android, Apple managed to popularize its own all-in-one messaging solution and in so doing brought encryption to more conversations. Google could try to do something like that with Android, but thus far they've simply remained agnostic.
- damnyou 6y ago
  I'm guessing they're an iOS user, where the built-in messaging app iMessage is treated as more special than other messaging apps.
  - bredren 6y ago
    It is much more special, because afaik it is the only one that can hook into SMS coming from the carrier. Other messenger apps can be downloaded and installed, but they can only do digital messaging. If you are on Android and you use Signal, but text some random other android user's phone number that uses a pure sms messaging app, is any part of that conversation encrypted?
    - damnyou 6y ago
      If the other phone is associated with a Signal account at all (regardless of operating system), it will use the Signal transport, otherwise SMS. The Signal UI makes it clear when you're sending unencrypted text messages.

dforrestwilson 6y ago

Be real. Opting for security and privacy vs a default lack thereof.

lern_too_spel 6y ago
You mean like on-by-default plain text backups on iCloud? The difference is that on Android, you can change to an app that is actually secure (without a MITM key server vulnerability like iMessage) and have it be used by everything.
damnyou 6y ago
As the other commenter points out, Apple's hands are just as dirty as Google's in this matter. iMessage is only end-to-end encrypted if you turn off cloud backups, and most people have them on so in practice it's not so. And turning them off on your end doesn't help either if even one participant in the conversation has them on. WhatsApp has the exact same problem with unencrypted backups. End-to-end encryption at large scale is not really something American mega-corporations can provide, unfortunately.
- dforrestwilson 6y ago
  Did not know that. Thanks!