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Is SMS the default configuration for messaging on new Android devices these days?
by bredren 6y ago
Is SMS the default configuration for messaging on new Android devices these days?
- nradov 6y agoWhat kind of default are you asking about? You can open any app you want and send a message.
- Spivak 6y agoI think they're talking about the fact that on Android you select a single default app to manage your text messages.
- notatoad 6y agoYes, 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 agoI 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 agoIt 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 agoThis 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 agoI'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 agoIt 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 agoIf 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.