I was a signal user until 2021, something glitched, probably because I had a weak data signal a few times so I thought signal was glitching so I abandoned it.
Well I need it again now because starting today July 6th Google is monopolizing all my native SMS apps and I don’t like the vibe of that and I do not agree to click agree to every step of the process Google taking over all my SMS activities.
As far as I know the only way to use Signal is if both communicating parties are both on signal, so how can I make this my main SMS app with businesses and everything & everyone who texts my main phone number?
I don’t have a lot of friends and so far I have one friend who agreed to go to signal with me, and I texted him and he didn’t respond so I thought he either ghosted me or it’s not working. How can I make signal work? It’s not working.
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starting today July 6th Google is monopolizing all my native SMS apps
What does this mean?
how can I make this my main SMS app
You can’t anymore.
How can I make signal work? It’s not working.
Can you tell us more about what’s “not working”?
If you’re comfortable I can help you test it but most likely either you or your friend are not set up properly.
Hi thanks, maybe can you tell me how to do that thing on Signal where the other party doesn’t have our phone number but each person is assigned a code number?
It’s not a code number, it’s just a user ID. I use Molly so it might be a little different but I think it’s the same. Just click on the profile picture at the top left and look for it there.
My profile picture on the top left says “54”. Is it that what you’re referring to? And is there a way to change it?
Edit - dang that’s huge.
Yes press the 54
Like all of these messaging services, you need the appropriate app on both ends. WhatsApp, Messenger, Signal all need the appropriate app. My family group moved to Signal with me but not many others.
Maybe an alternative SMS app is for you.
Would you happen to know of any alternative SMS apps that Google will not infiltrate on my android phone?
I think what you want is an SMS app from fdroid. You can ask for recommendations in !fdroid@lemmy.ml or !android@lemdro.id
What do you mean by google infiltrating the app, were you seeing Google related content somewhere? Or do you want to prevent google from seeing something?
Thank you. For the last couple of months every time I open my native messaging app that I’ve been using for years, it gave me a warning that starting July 6th Google would be taking over the SMS on our phones. And sure enough, today in the middle of an important texting conversation with a company I order medication from, Google intercepted it and tried to force me to agree to all their terms and take over my SMS functions. I refused to click on any of their agreement terms, I rebooted my phone, And switched to email with my medication company. But now I have lost texting capabilities until I come up with an alternative. Yeah for the last couple months I’ve been trying to get signal to work but couldn’t figure it out & forgot about it, but now today is the day of reckoning. I need SMS capabilities restored.
Ohh ok, so I think it’s this?
https://www.samsung.com/us/support/troubleshoot/TSG10010566/
https://www.samsung.com/us/apps/samsung-messages/
Samsung Messages will reach its End of Service (EOS) in the US starting July 6, 2026, for devices running Android 12 or newer versions. To keep your messaging experience seamless and up-to-date, we encourage you to transition to Google Messages, which will continue to provide reliable messaging services. Notifications regarding this change will be shared on Samsung.com and through in-app alerts. Follow the provided steps to ensure a smooth switch to Google Messages.
If so, I think what happened is that Samsung doesn’t want to continue developing its own messaging app and is shutting it down and redirecting people to use Google’s. If that’s the case, then you should be able to easily switch to another app that’s made by someone else, without google taking over.
I would post on those communities to ask for recommendations :)
Yes that’s exactly my issue, you got it. Thanks for explaining why this is happening, and suggesting some workarounds, I will look into it.
No problem!
Signal has stopped supporting SMS a couple of years ago, it’s not possible to use it anymore if one party is not on signal.
When you sent your friend a Signal message, does it show 1. A spinning circle, 2. A single clear checkmark, 3. A clear double-checkmark, or 4. a filled-in double checkmark?
- Your message hasn’t made it to Signal’s servers; you have an internet issue.
- Your message went through Signal but hasn’t landed on your friend’s phone. Either they didn’t install the app or they have a connection problem.
- Your message made it to your friend’s phone but they haven’t read it.
- Your friend has read your message.
Make sure your friend installed the app and launched it at least once!
And for clarity, some respondents never get to 4, even after replying. I suspect that it’s either a bug or a “privacy” setting.
Thank you. This is valuable information.
@Beehaw_Girl
#signal does not support #SMS anymore.
If you are looking for an alternate SMS app, you could try #QUIK, which is working pretty well for me.
Remember sms doesn’t give any privacy for your communications. For better privacy use signal and encourage your contacts to move on to it.Thanks! I guess I’m not super duper concerned about privacy, I just don’t like the way Google has infiltrated texting on Android or whatever’s going on with my phone right now, so I will look into your recommendation.
Signal can’t do SMSs anymore, it got removed a while ago, but the normal communication through it should not work different than other messaging apps, just have your friend’s number or alias and send them a message
