#Samsung is shutting down its text messenging app and forcing people onto #Google for SMS and MMS.
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#Samsung is shutting down its text messenging app and forcing people onto #Google for SMS and MMS. At #techreclaimers we have been discussing alternatives to avoid Google. Several Reclaimers recommend Fossify Messages and Fossify Contacts as a good alternative, others have used Textra, and we'd all love to know about more options that keep your data private and sovereign.
If you're stuck, check these out and let us all know how you found the switch.
If you're a super user already, share the knowledge! What do you use?https://www.fossify.org/apps/
https://www.reclaimcontrol.tech@cyberlyra @TheBulletin does the fossify app classify messages in categories like transactional, personal, spam? I've been on MSFT's SMS Organizer for a long time because it does a great job at classifying SMSes in India. The app was built by a team here, so it got the necessary attention. But, the app is no longer maintained and hasn't been updated for a long time, plus a FOSS alternative is always better!
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#Samsung is shutting down its text messenging app and forcing people onto #Google for SMS and MMS. At #techreclaimers we have been discussing alternatives to avoid Google. Several Reclaimers recommend Fossify Messages and Fossify Contacts as a good alternative, others have used Textra, and we'd all love to know about more options that keep your data private and sovereign.
If you're stuck, check these out and let us all know how you found the switch.
If you're a super user already, share the knowledge! What do you use?https://www.fossify.org/apps/
https://www.reclaimcontrol.techI use Fossify Contacts and Messages - no problems - they just work.
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@chris @TheBulletin Not necessarily, but that doesn't mean we can just ask people to rely on data-based apps like Signal.
I also recognize that for our European friends even talking about SMS seems hopelessly out of date. This is not because people care much about privacy but because in the EU, data was cheap to consumers especially under roaming regulations, whereas in North America, data access is tiered and costly but texts are unlimited.
Because of these kinds of issues, data-based texting apps are not as popular everywhere and there is less convergence upon a single standard (except maybe WhatsApp which i wouldn't use cos Meta). People still use MMS and SMS. And they often don't have much visibility into which standard is even in use in an ecosystem where messages go betwen Androids and iMessage.
@cyberlyra @chris @TheBulletin Thank you for such a clear explanation of why SMS is still a thing in some places. I really, really appreciate that.
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R relay@relay.publicsquare.global shared this topic
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#Samsung is shutting down its text messenging app and forcing people onto #Google for SMS and MMS. At #techreclaimers we have been discussing alternatives to avoid Google. Several Reclaimers recommend Fossify Messages and Fossify Contacts as a good alternative, others have used Textra, and we'd all love to know about more options that keep your data private and sovereign.
If you're stuck, check these out and let us all know how you found the switch.
If you're a super user already, share the knowledge! What do you use?https://www.fossify.org/apps/
https://www.reclaimcontrol.tech@cyberlyra @TheBulletin OMG how did I not know about fossify??? Thanks for posting

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#Samsung is shutting down its text messenging app and forcing people onto #Google for SMS and MMS. At #techreclaimers we have been discussing alternatives to avoid Google. Several Reclaimers recommend Fossify Messages and Fossify Contacts as a good alternative, others have used Textra, and we'd all love to know about more options that keep your data private and sovereign.
If you're stuck, check these out and let us all know how you found the switch.
If you're a super user already, share the knowledge! What do you use?https://www.fossify.org/apps/
https://www.reclaimcontrol.techI'll look forward to see what recommendations your followers offer. I just received the notice from Samsung yesterday and started to switch to the Google app. But when it asked for permission to access all my contacts and files, I stopped.
If I do nothing what will happen? Will I still receive text messages?
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#Samsung is shutting down its text messenging app and forcing people onto #Google for SMS and MMS. At #techreclaimers we have been discussing alternatives to avoid Google. Several Reclaimers recommend Fossify Messages and Fossify Contacts as a good alternative, others have used Textra, and we'd all love to know about more options that keep your data private and sovereign.
If you're stuck, check these out and let us all know how you found the switch.
If you're a super user already, share the knowledge! What do you use?https://www.fossify.org/apps/
https://www.reclaimcontrol.tech@cyberlyra@hachyderm.io @TheBulletin@social.techreclaimers.club QKSMS or its fork QUIK
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#Samsung is shutting down its text messenging app and forcing people onto #Google for SMS and MMS. At #techreclaimers we have been discussing alternatives to avoid Google. Several Reclaimers recommend Fossify Messages and Fossify Contacts as a good alternative, others have used Textra, and we'd all love to know about more options that keep your data private and sovereign.
If you're stuck, check these out and let us all know how you found the switch.
If you're a super user already, share the knowledge! What do you use?https://www.fossify.org/apps/
https://www.reclaimcontrol.tech@cyberlyra @TheBulletin
Google have essentially hijacked the actual reason for a phone being a phone, taken control of regular phone calls, contact list and SMS. All of which work on the dumbest phone.You can disable Google messaging in SMS, though it's not obvious.
You can disable using you google account for phone / SMS contacts, though it's not obvious.You can disable Gemini only by selecting the older Hi Google engine, which then can be disabled.
The Android email is a terminal. Use K9
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#Samsung is shutting down its text messenging app and forcing people onto #Google for SMS and MMS. At #techreclaimers we have been discussing alternatives to avoid Google. Several Reclaimers recommend Fossify Messages and Fossify Contacts as a good alternative, others have used Textra, and we'd all love to know about more options that keep your data private and sovereign.
If you're stuck, check these out and let us all know how you found the switch.
If you're a super user already, share the knowledge! What do you use?https://www.fossify.org/apps/
https://www.reclaimcontrol.tech@cyberlyra @TheBulletin wait, does this mean if I have a Samsung phone, the text app will just stop working? If so, do you know when?
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@cyberlyra @TheBulletin wait, does this mean if I have a Samsung phone, the text app will just stop working? If so, do you know when?
@GwenfarsGarden @cyberlyra @TheBulletin I have been getting various notifications at irregular intervals about this over the last year or two and each time they change the deadline (it may depend on your carrier. I'm currently being told July 6th)
I have a strong preference for the Samsung app for user interface reasons so I'm just gonna ride it out. Textra is a strong contender for my replacement but still taking recs
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@cyberlyra
I've been using Quik SMS. It seems to fail less when sending images.GitHub - quik-sms/quik: The most beautiful SMS messenger for Android - Revived
The most beautiful SMS messenger for Android - Revived - quik-sms/quik
GitHub (github.com)
@saucerlost @cyberlyra @TheBulletin Just to clarify: fail less than what other app? I wouldn't use SMS to send images but I imagine others would.
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@saucerlost @cyberlyra @TheBulletin Just to clarify: fail less than what other app? I wouldn't use SMS to send images but I imagine others would.
@starluna
Fossify Messenger.
@cyberlyra @TheBulletin -
#Samsung is shutting down its text messenging app and forcing people onto #Google for SMS and MMS. At #techreclaimers we have been discussing alternatives to avoid Google. Several Reclaimers recommend Fossify Messages and Fossify Contacts as a good alternative, others have used Textra, and we'd all love to know about more options that keep your data private and sovereign.
If you're stuck, check these out and let us all know how you found the switch.
If you're a super user already, share the knowledge! What do you use?https://www.fossify.org/apps/
https://www.reclaimcontrol.tech@cyberlyra @TheBulletin
I switched to Fossify Messages. I tried a couple of others, but group messaging is completely broken after switching. All RCS chat's I was in don't work anymore. I can sometimes send, but I never receive anything.
Google took an open communication platform and turned it into a closed system by introducing "features" and calling it RCS. -
@starluna
Fossify Messenger.
@cyberlyra @TheBulletin@saucerlost @cyberlyra @TheBulletin Thank you.
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@cyberlyra @TheBulletin wait, does this mean if I have a Samsung phone, the text app will just stop working? If so, do you know when?
@GwenfarsGarden @cyberlyra @TheBulletin Mine notified me to switch yesterday. It still worked. I think it said something about when it would stop working, but I didn't pay attention, I just switched.
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@cyberlyra @TheBulletin
I switched to Fossify Messages. I tried a couple of others, but group messaging is completely broken after switching. All RCS chat's I was in don't work anymore. I can sometimes send, but I never receive anything.
Google took an open communication platform and turned it into a closed system by introducing "features" and calling it RCS.@moldavia @cyberlyra @TheBulletin - I too have had issues with Simple/Fossify Messages group txts (esp. grups with MMS messages, which I think are default for iPhones?). I'm a longtime SimpleMobileTools user and like the other Fossify apps, but can anyone recommend from experience a better FOSS SMS app than Fossify Messages?
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#Samsung is shutting down its text messenging app and forcing people onto #Google for SMS and MMS. At #techreclaimers we have been discussing alternatives to avoid Google. Several Reclaimers recommend Fossify Messages and Fossify Contacts as a good alternative, others have used Textra, and we'd all love to know about more options that keep your data private and sovereign.
If you're stuck, check these out and let us all know how you found the switch.
If you're a super user already, share the knowledge! What do you use?https://www.fossify.org/apps/
https://www.reclaimcontrol.techThis shutdown will leave only two choices for RCS: Messages from Google or Apple. RCS has some nice features, but it's far from an open standard.
A tip for using open source SMS/MMS apps is to turn off RCS at the carrier level.
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#Samsung is shutting down its text messenging app and forcing people onto #Google for SMS and MMS. At #techreclaimers we have been discussing alternatives to avoid Google. Several Reclaimers recommend Fossify Messages and Fossify Contacts as a good alternative, others have used Textra, and we'd all love to know about more options that keep your data private and sovereign.
If you're stuck, check these out and let us all know how you found the switch.
If you're a super user already, share the knowledge! What do you use?https://www.fossify.org/apps/
https://www.reclaimcontrol.tech@cyberlyra @TheBulletin They don't have anything to offer for this particular issue, but lots of other nice things: https://european-alternatives.eu
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#Samsung is shutting down its text messenging app and forcing people onto #Google for SMS and MMS. At #techreclaimers we have been discussing alternatives to avoid Google. Several Reclaimers recommend Fossify Messages and Fossify Contacts as a good alternative, others have used Textra, and we'd all love to know about more options that keep your data private and sovereign.
If you're stuck, check these out and let us all know how you found the switch.
If you're a super user already, share the knowledge! What do you use?https://www.fossify.org/apps/
https://www.reclaimcontrol.tech@cyberlyra @TheBulletin this also helps entrench Google Messages as nearly the only RCS app out there.
which is a good thing only if it hastens RCS's death.
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@chris @cyberlyra @TheBulletin nope, Google needs to open up their RCS implementation before other apps are able to connect to it.
@noodlejetski @chris @cyberlyra @TheBulletin which is especially maddening since the initial Android reference code DID support other apps.
honestly I suggest treating RCS as "Google", but with the added benefit of "and platform-enforced to be only Google" and avoiding it.
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#Samsung is shutting down its text messenging app and forcing people onto #Google for SMS and MMS. At #techreclaimers we have been discussing alternatives to avoid Google. Several Reclaimers recommend Fossify Messages and Fossify Contacts as a good alternative, others have used Textra, and we'd all love to know about more options that keep your data private and sovereign.
If you're stuck, check these out and let us all know how you found the switch.
If you're a super user already, share the knowledge! What do you use?https://www.fossify.org/apps/
https://www.reclaimcontrol.tech@cyberlyra @TheBulletin I just installed Fossify on my phone. Looks like the app I had back on my old phone. My current one only had Google sofware for making phone calls etc.