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Removing SMS support from Signal Android (soon)

signal.org

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81–90 of 649 posts

Re: Removing SMS support from Signal Android (soon)

#81

Post by stirfish »

I feel like I somehow caused this mess by becoming a monthly donor.

It feels like I just got my friends to put letters in envelopes instead of only using postcards. Now we all have to drive to two different post offices - one for letters and one for cards - because the original office will stop delivering cards. Everyone is just going to go back to using postcards.

>Dropping support for SMS messaging also frees up our capacity to build new features (yes, like usernames) that will ensure Signal is fresh and relevant into the future

I don't buy this.

Re: Removing SMS support from Signal Android (soon)

#82

Post by [deleted] »

smlavine wrote: post #28

Very disappointing and upsetting. I use Signal as my primary SMS/MMS app on my phone, and use a few Signal chats as well with people. This is going to be really annoying. I'm probably going to just stop using Signal altogether to be honest. Most people in my social circle use Snapchat or iMessage for "texting", for reference.

[deleted]

Re: Removing SMS support from Signal Android (soon)

#83

Post by NoGravitas »

oezi wrote: post #32

Why doesn't anybody fork the Signal clients? There are so many bad design decision in the clients (for instance no message backup on iOS or no way to save all media to storage automatically) that I don't understand why people accept the Signal Foundation's stewardship of the client code.

Because while both the server and the client are Open Source, the server doesn't federate. If you want to be able to communicate with anyone, you have to use the official server instance. And the official server instance doesn't allow unofficial clients (though some clients seem to get away with it for a while).

Re: Removing SMS support from Signal Android (soon)

#84

Post by Pr0ject217 »

> "Letting a deeply insecure messaging protocol have a place in the Signal interface is inconsistent with our values and with what people expect when they open Signal"

> "We’ve heard repeatedly from people who’ve been hit with high messaging fees after assuming that the SMS messages they were sending were Signal messages"

> "We can only do so much on the design side to prevent such misunderstandings"

It sounds like they are trying to protect users from themselves.

Re: Removing SMS support from Signal Android (soon)

#85

Post by jacooper »

I think this will only affect US users, because nobody uses SMS outside the US. And switching between apps is the expected thing to do when trying to push people to another platform,

I have telegram, signal, whatsapp and Element on my phone, this is why the new digital markets act is going to be revolutionary, especially with bridge friendly platforms like matrix.org.

Re: Removing SMS support from Signal Android (soon)

#86

Post by tomcam »

mitchellpkt wrote: post #70

This seems to be a "bug or feature" situation where the answer depends on the user profile. The ability for messages to leave the Signal app in plaintext SMS is a "feature" for users whose top needs include a single-app UX, and a "bug" for users whose top needs include an app that is foolproof E2EE (so users don't have to consciously pay attention to which conversations are Signal-native vs SMS). Maybe SMS support co…

None of the naysayers has addressed your point (and those of TFA) rationally, as you have.

Re: Removing SMS support from Signal Android (soon)

#87

Post by chungy »

mitchellpkt wrote: post #70

This seems to be a "bug or feature" situation where the answer depends on the user profile. The ability for messages to leave the Signal app in plaintext SMS is a "feature" for users whose top needs include a single-app UX, and a "bug" for users whose top needs include an app that is foolproof E2EE (so users don't have to consciously pay attention to which conversations are Signal-native vs SMS). Maybe SMS support co…

> Maybe SMS support could be an opt-in feature, to accommodate both groups?

It already is opt-in.

Re: Removing SMS support from Signal Android (soon)

#89

Post by Melatonic »

pavon wrote: post #72
eatwater123 wrote: post #10

This is an awful decision. I've converted some friends and family to Signal over the past years (it took a while) and it is now their default messaging app on their phones. This is going to confuse them and is going to make it difficult for me to keep convincing them that Signal is the route to use. ("Why do I need 3 apps (Android Messages, Signal, Whatsapp) to talk to people?")

I absolutely agree. Personally, I've managed to convert around 3 times as many Android users as iOS users, because of this feature. And the few people who stopped using Signal after starting using it did so because of limitations in the SMS/MMS features (fewer number of users allowed in group text, etc). I fully expect to loose 2/3 of my Signal contacts as a result of this decision, and may drop it myself if the numb…

Signal encrypts your regular texts? I thought it specifically did not do that?

Re: Removing SMS support from Signal Android (soon)

#90

Post by toastercat »

throwawayben wrote: post #49

The comments here are so bizarre to me. I think this must be a USA thing. I had no idea signal even supported SMS, nor do I know anybody who uses SMS

It is a US thing. The majority of folks in the US still use SMS for text chat. The alternative is buying into a proprietary platform like WhatsApp, but not everyone you talk to is going to be on WhatsApp/FB Messenger/iMessage, etc, so you end up having 5 different chat apps installed on your phone at any time. SMS has been the only real ubiquitous one despite all its flaws.
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