Re: The dirty dozen Google apps

On Thu, 20 Mar 2025 11:22:27 -0700, Stan Brown wrote :

10. Google Messenger SMS/MMS ==> Pulse SMS free version

 A bunch of sites recommend Signal, which provides end-to-end encryption. However, both parties need to have Signal installed, so I haven't tried it yet.

Stan, you're 100% on the money. Everything you said is correct.
You've hit upon the key issue for most SMS/MMS/RCS apps, which is that the
other guy has to be using the same protocols, so that's the problem with
most VOIP solutions (e.g., Telegram, Signal, WhatsApp, etc.).
 <https://i.postimg.cc/ryGLXggQ/rcs-mls.jpg>
But the beauty of SMS/MMS apps is they work with everything.
So we need a privacy-aware messaging app.
I don't know what it will be, but it won't be a Google app.
It might be signal, based on the Copilot response above. Or PulseSMS. Or SimpleSMS. Or Hancecent Next SMS. We don't know yet.
In the future, we'll have a wider choice but now, we have zero choices.
I just asked Copilot what SMS/MMS messenger apps will support RCS/MLS, to
which it couldn't find any but the strange thing is it said it'd keep an
eye out on that topic for me. So, maybe, in the future, we'll know.
 <https://i.postimg.cc/q7mY13vX/copilot-tracking.jpg>