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Removing SMS support from Signal Android (soon)

signal.org

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Re: Removing SMS support from Signal Android (soon)

#451

Post by veeti »

rsync wrote: post #400
agloeregrets wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The answer is this: They dont want to add RCS support or spend the time to do it. It's all bullshit top to bottom.

"The answer is this: They dont want to add RCS support or spend the time to do it." ... confirmed by Signal in their discussion thread: "... and Signal can’t add RCS support because there’s no RCS API on Android. Honestly, the days of any third-party SMS app are numbered." I guess I misunderstood RCS. I thought the whole point of RCS was to be used on Android and to allow disparate third parties to use it as an open…

The API is private to system apps from the device manufacturer. Most phones ship Google's Messages app for SMS & RCS.

Re: Removing SMS support from Signal Android (soon)

#452

Post by 1MachineElf »

neogodless wrote: post #337
lucideer wrote: post #153

This is bizarre. If this were an in-depth announcement with a long and well-structured technical justification attached, I could understand. Though I suspect I'd likely disagree with the decision, I could probably accept it as a simple different of opinion if the arguments were evidently well-thought-through and considered. This blog-post is so lightweight. There's no technical analysis. There's barely any justificat…

Here's a (partially?) non-technical justification they shared on the Community forums. https://community.signalusers.org/t/signal-blog-removing-sms...

Thanks. This link should really be higher up in the comments. The community forums discussion is much more interesting than the blog post.

Re: Removing SMS support from Signal Android (soon)

#453

Post by fluidcruft »

fluidcruft wrote: post #138

How do you know if your contacts use Signal and know to use that app instead of SMS/Messages or whatever? With the SMS integration it was pretty easy because it would just switch over if the other person had Signal or if/when they signed up in the future. What's the workflow now? Manually ask them on SMS if they use Signal? Just try it and see if it works? This sounds like one of those "Don't Worry! Rejoice! We're br…

Edit: after reading the explanation in the community forum linked here

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33181636

I have instead come around to support this move 200% and have instead doubled my monthly subscription. The explanation at the blog post is an abomination, however.

Leave SMS and all its shitty successors for Apple and Google and carriers to kill/maintain.

Re: Removing SMS support from Signal Android (soon)

#454

Post by aidenn0 »

gs17 wrote: post #289
LtWorf wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's terrible. Every once in a while they decide to convince me that I really don't want to be sending an SMS but I want to use google's messenger of the month, that will inevitably be gone next month.

Huh, it's never done that to me. How often does it happen?

Every time it updates it asks me if I want to enable "messaging features" the next time it opens.

Re: Removing SMS support from Signal Android (soon)

#455

Post by nobody9999 »

dontlaugh wrote: post #339
grammers wrote: post #233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This. I've switched to iOS recently and I hate that I need two apps now. Already longing to go back to Android.

You need WhatsApp anyway, you’ll have several apps whatever you do.

>You need WhatsApp anyway, you’ll have several apps whatever you do.

Do I? Not being snarky here, I just really don't understand why I need WhatsApp.

No one I know uses WhatsApp to communicate with me. No business I deal with uses WhatsApp to communicate with me.

In fact, I'm not sure what value WhatsApp provides as I've never used it.

I'd appreciate it if you'd elucidate on your point. Mostly because if you're correct, I'm obviously missing something extremely important.

Re: Removing SMS support from Signal Android (soon)

#456

Post by Stamp01 »

genpfault wrote: post #320
CommitSyn wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, this is an idiotic decision that makes me question the decisions being made as a whole by Signal. Does anyone have recommendations for a good default SMS app on Android?

https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.simplemobiletools.smsmes... ?

This is what I'm switching to. I would have suggested Textra, but when I downloaded it just now, TrackerControl told me there are a bunch of tracking libraries in it. Simple SMS Messenger, on the other hand, not only doesn't have any tracking libraries, but doesn't ask for internet access!

I've used other tools in the Simple suite and I love them.

Although I like using F-Droid, this app is also available on the regular Play Store as well.

Re: Removing SMS support from Signal Android (soon)

#457

Post by dig1 »

> We have now reached the point where SMS support no longer makes sense

> ...

> Now, data plans are cheaper and far more ubiquitous than they were nearly a decade ago

I'm curious, are these guys lives in a bubble or what? I think they should try to travel around the world a bit.

> 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, only to find out that they were using SMS, and being charged by their telecom provider.

So in essence, they fuc*d up UI/UX and now the simplest approach to fix would be just to remove it. Sounds like a brilliant idea from an MBA guy or whatever-evangelist-title-is.

Re: Removing SMS support from Signal Android (soon)

#458

Post by alpaca128 »

Am I the only one who likes this change?

I'm tired of explaining to my relatives why they can send their picture to one person but not to another, or why it requires wifi for some contacts. Mixing two incompatible messaging standards communicating via two different channels in one app is confusing for many people. Sure, it also has advantages and I think you could make it work, but the app actively asking users to make it the default SMS app is not a great idea.

Re: Removing SMS support from Signal Android (soon)

#459

Post by godelski »

anigbrowl wrote: post #414
godelski wrote: post #404

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry, I'm not trying to be rude. But I am confused at what they want. We have continued the discussion and the picture is clearer to me. Though I'm not sure exactly how Signal can help with it. It still appears to me that the user wants both reduced storage but to maintain search history, which are at odds with one another. Unless they expect Signal to store their history, which those expectations should be shot dow…

How can you be confused? 'I'd take a decent "export my chats" option' is a very simple statement. There is no way within Signal to just export a whole conversation to a file.

> There is no way within Signal to just export a whole conversation to a file.

You can on Android and Desktop. On Mac see ~/Library/Application\ Support/Signal for your data. The only issue is with iOS which I agree is an issue, but does not seem to be the parent's issue.

Re: Removing SMS support from Signal Android (soon)

#460

Post by nstbayless »

ortusdux wrote: post #33

One Signal feature that I always wanted, and will apparently never get, was the ability to send the same message via SMS & data, and have the duplicate cancel out on the other end. Service is spotty in my region, and I routinely have either cellular or data connectivity.

I initially downloaded Signal assuming it had that feature. Then they removed encrypted SMS entirely: https://signal.org/blog/goodbye-encrypted-sms/ -- I almost uninstalled the app then.
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