This mostly skims over two additional issues that add whole additional dimensions to the mess that is Google's messaging services: * How / whether you're allow

This mostly skims over two additional issues that add whole additional dimensions to the mess that is Google's messaging services: * How / whether you're allowed to integrate SMS / phone messages with web based chat (what we used to call instant messaging). E.g. can you get your text messages and voicemails on the computer? At some points you could, at some points you couldn't. At one point there was Google Voice, at another point Hangouts could do it, now you have to use the "Messages" app for texts, which is still relatively broken compared to either of the previous methods and doesn't support any kind of instant messaging. * The different rules that apply if you're using Google Fi. For example, the Messages help page [1] says you can turn on "chat features", which lets you send messages over data and get other conveniences like read receipts and large photos (because they're not sent over MMS). But wait, if you use Google Fi, if you want to get messages and make calls on your computer (i.e. with your phone off), you have to disable chat features. You can't have both. [2] It's absolutely insane. This worked 100% correctly with Hangouts - perfect integration. [1] https://support.google.com/messages/answer/7189714?hl=en https://support.google.com/messages/answer/7189714?hl=en [2] https://support.google.com/fi/answer/6188337 https://support.google.com/fi/answer/6188337