Link: Signal is 'starting to phase out SMS support' from its Android app

[queer_scribbling]

"Signal is 'starting to phase out SMS support' from its Android app" (12 October 2022; posted here on 23 February 2023).

Signal is beginning to phase out support for sending and receiving standard text messages from its Android app after years of supporting the ability to have them alongside your Signal messages, which are end-to-end encrypted and sent using data. The company says that if you have its app set as your default SMS and MMS client, you’ll have to pick a new app to handle those duties.

According to a Wednesday blog post, users will have "several months to transition away from SMS in Signal" and to migrate their messages to a new app. Of course, the post also recommends trying to convert the people you were texting into Signal users. If you do use the feature (you can check by going to Signal's settings screen, then to Chats > SMS and MMS and seeing if 'use as default SMS app' is enabled), you'll start seeing notifications reminding you that you'll have to change over soon.

I put my decision making in the comments, but I mostly needed to have this as a post to remind myself to actually find a new SMS app.

Comments

[queer_scribbling]

The switching.software page for Instant Messengers. Lists: Signal, XMPP, Quicksy, Zom, Element, and Jami.


Honestly, I didn't want to deal with all that. Two of my contacts use Signal, and I highly doubt I'd get anyone else to jump to something less familiar than Signal, so I went with Simple SMS Messenger from Simple Mobile Tools. It's free, and I could easily find it in F-Droid [already installed and using].

For anyone unsure of the actual switching over part: Signal's reminder that I wouldn't have SMS support after 7 April walked me through exporting my SMS and selecting a new default SMS app (already installed on phone).