To prioritize security and privacy, and to streamline the user experience, Signal will remove support SMS and MMS message support from its Android app. The Signal for Android app could be configured as the default SMS/MMS app since it is starting as TextSecure (an app that used the Axolotl Ratchet protocol). This change is surprising to those who don’t know Signal can also be used to manage this type of text.
Words by Signal –
In a blog post, a company said that “We have now reached the point where SMS support no longer makes sense. To enable a more streamlined Signal experience, we are starting to phase out SMS support from the Android app.”
“You will have several months to transition away from SMS in Signal, to export your SMS messages to another app, and to let the people you talk to know that they might want to switch to Signal or find another channel if not.” – Signal.
Change in the Texting System of Android Users –
Signal will notify the Android users to export their SMS messages and switch to a new default app to manage their SMS messages because the change that Signal is making (removing support for SMS text messages) will only affect the Android users who have set up Signal as their default SMS app. When Signal is used as the unified Android texting app, both Signal and Non-Signal contacts are displayed in the contact list, with Signal ones marked with a blue letter.
This move was mainly prompted by plain text SMS messages being insecure since they can be intercepted using various methods and allow mobile carriers worldwide to access message metadata. In addition to this, the company said that having unencrypted SMS messages right next to secure Signal messages in the same interface could easily lead to confusion.
Privacy Standards for the Future –
“We understand that this change will be frustrating for those who use Signal on Android for SMS messaging in addition to sending Signal messages. It rarely feels good to have to switch up the ways that you communicate with the people who matter to you. We did not make this choice lightly, but we do believe it is necessary to ensure that Signal meets the highest privacy standards for the future.” – Signal.
The Final Reason for this Move made by Signal –
Signal said “It’s primarily just the US and parts of Europe that have affordable/unlimited SMS plans. For the most part, the global south is hungry for overlay services that they can use instead of SMS, precisely because SMS is so expensive in those places.” Last but not the least, the third and final reason for this change given by Signal is that they can lead to expensive phone bills when mistakenly sending SMS messages instead of Signal messages due to high fees in some parts of the world.
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