if you use the sign to send and receive SMS, it is better to be careful. This Wednesday (12), those responsible for the messenger warned that they will no longer offer the feature for exchanging text messages by the operator. The function, which remains in operation today, is only available for mobile phones. android.
The tool has been available on Android for a good couple of years now. It was even because of this feature that I started using the messenger on my cell phone after its launch. After all, I didn’t like the native messaging app very much and I wanted to save space on the lock screen.
Support for SMS and MMS, by the way, was the cornerstone for the foundation of the application. On the blog, the messenger team recalled that the function existed even before the sign come to the world. “Our Android app was called TextSecure and the Signal encryption protocol was called Axolotl,” they said. “Nearly a decade has passed since then, and a lot has changed.”
The feature, however, will come to an end. The platform team has stated that it will continue to discontinue SMS support from the Android app. But this will not happen suddenly: according to the publication, users will have “several months” to export messages to other applications.
But why is Signal abandoning SMS?
Signal gave three reasons to justify the change. The first, of course, has to do with security. And the publication is surgical: SMS is insecure by nature. No wonder Google is betting a lot on the RCSeven without Apple’s help, to finally say goodbye to the old standard.
The cost lists the second reason. And it’s no wonder: back then, not everyone could afford a data plan, as they were pretty salty. After I got my first smartphone in 2011, I myself spent a lot of time relying on Wi-Fi alone. My iPhone even had the nickname “iPod Pro”, because I only bought my first internet package in 2012.
But this reality was left aside. And even the messenger team acknowledges this: “data plans are now cheaper and much more ubiquitous than they were nearly a decade ago. In a reversal, the cost of sending SMS is now prohibitively high in many parts of the world.” That is, it is much better to appeal to Signal and its competitors than to use a technology from the past.
Finally, there is the issue of usability. “It is important that people do not mistake SMS messages sent or received through the Signal interface as secure and private when in fact they are not,” they said. “And while we flag the difference between them in the app, we can only do so much on the design side to avoid such misunderstandings.”
Users were not very happy
Change is important. In the end, SMS is a bad idea even for two-step authentication. But not all users were satisfied with the decision.
“This is really awful. The SMS functionality meant that I could install the app on a non-technical user’s phone and they would opportunistically get the benefits of Signal. Now they’re going back to simple SMS,” said a Twitter user on Wednesday (2).
Others followed the chorus. “This is a bad move. SMS is not going away, and removing support for it will only reduce the number of people using Signal,” one person tweeted the same day. The other negative comments also highlighted that this measure will make it difficult to use the messenger, many will not use more than one application to exchange messages.
“Please do not! It was amazing to have to just use a single message app (even for the occasional SMS),” remarked one user, “SMS integration is a plus.”
And you, what do you think of the change? Share your opinions there on APK Games Community!
With information: Signal (Blog)
https://tecnoblog.net/noticias/2022/10/13/signal-vai-deixar-de-suportar-sms-em-celulares-android/