With simple messager selling out & qksms no longer being actively worked on. What’s our options for open source sms messagers?

Should I dedicate time to learning flutter and building my own or does anyone know any cool foss projects working on this issue?

  • Dark Arc@social.packetloss.ggEnglish
    25·
    11 months ago

    You definitely shouldn’t invest time in SMS. Without RCS (or some custom messaging protocol support), “texting apps” are pretty much a dead market.

    RCS is both more secure and more user friendly than SMS can be by design. Once the iPhone gets RCS support in the coming months/years, this will be especially true.

    • SokathHisEyesOpen@lemmy.mlEnglish
      21·
      11 months ago

      If you message cross-platform from Android to iOS, and you can’t get everyone to agree upon a 3rd party app, then you’re kind of stuck with sms. This isn’t a problem that is going away in the near future. Apple relies on their locked messaging platform to influence their users into thinking iOS is the best. The users then pressure all of their friends to get iPhones too. It’s an effective strategy for them. Very few iPhone users seem to understand the games being played.

      • Dark Arc@social.packetloss.ggEnglish
        1·
        11 months ago

        You’re right, I’ve updated my reply… Hopefully someday that will be a generic RCS feature not exclusive to Google and/or Apple and Google will work to make the E2EE work between their two systems.

      • nymwit@lemm.eeEnglish
        1·
        11 months ago

        Samsung messages has Google’s RCS implementation and E2EE, too.

    • smeg@feddit.ukEnglish
      6·
      11 months ago

      Plenty of services still unfortunately rely on SMS for 2FA, so we’ll still need a client to receive them. Doesn’t really need to be able to send them though, I don’t think any human has sent an SMS message deliberately for about 12 years!

      • scoobford@lemmy.oneEnglish
        10·
        11 months ago

        I don’t think any human has sent an SMS message deliberately for about 12 years!

        sweats nervously in American

        • spacecowboy@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
          6·
          11 months ago

          I don’t know anyone in Canada that isn’t a new Canadian that uses anything other than the default sms app on their phone. (FBM and Insta and what not don’t count in my example).

          SMS is alive and well in Canada.

          • smeg@feddit.ukEnglish
            2·
            11 months ago

            My condolences. But seriously though, what if you want to have a group chat, or send a file?

            • spacecowboy@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
              1·
              11 months ago

              Plenty of group chats that mix iMessage and sms, just through iMessage, or just sms group chats.

              Most new Canadians I interact with have WhatsApp, however, as I understand that’s quite popular abroad.

              • smeg@feddit.ukEnglish
                1·
                11 months ago

                SMS doesn’t have group chats does it? Unless your client is just sending the same message to everyone and grouping together the responses?

                • scoobford@lemmy.oneEnglish
                  3·
                  11 months ago

                  I don’t know about the underlying technology, but every client I’ve used for the past couple decades supported groups.

                  However, they absolutely sucked. There was no way to leave. Unless someone made a new group without you and everyone used that, you’d keep getting messages.

      • apis@beehaw.orgEnglish
        3·
        11 months ago

        SMS is my primary mode of contact with the rest if the world. I use Signal as well, but most people I know only use SMS.

        • smeg@feddit.ukEnglish
          1·
          11 months ago

          So how do you have group chats or send files with your non-Signal contacts?

          • Jomn@jlai.luEnglish
            4·
            11 months ago

            You don’t x)

            More seriously, in these cases, I often rely on emails instead. But I don’t really use group chats a lot (even with my contacts that are on Signal), nor send many files, so it’s not features I really miss. And SMS works with everyone, so it’s always my default if the contact isn’t on Signal.

            • smeg@feddit.ukEnglish
              2·
              11 months ago

              Blimey, you and I have wildly different use cases, I don’t think I’ve sent an email to someone who wasn’t a business for decades!

          • nymwit@lemm.eeEnglish
            2·
            11 months ago

            Group chats work over SMS. I use cloud links for large files or just SMS/MMS for pictures and you just live with the low quality if texting with an iPhone user.

            • smeg@feddit.ukEnglish
              1·
              11 months ago

              SMS doesn’t have group chats does it? Unless your client is just sending the same message to everyone and grouping together the responses?

              • nymwit@lemm.eeEnglish
                3·
                11 months ago

                I mean, maybe? I’ve used group texts with every sms client on every android smartphone I’ve ever used. Don’t know how it works on the backend.

          • apis@beehaw.orgEnglish
            1·
            11 months ago

            It has never occurred to me to do either of those things, and apparently hasn’t to anyone I’m in contact with either.

            Though I don’t use group chats or send files in Signal either, so there’s that.

    • Lunch@lemmy.worldEnglish
      3·
      11 months ago

      Quick question, is RCS mostly a protocol used in the US or something? Cos never heard of the term here in Europe. Maybe I just live under a rock tho.

      • ginerel@kbin.social
        2·
        11 months ago

        I am on Vodafone and I have it as well. I heard it’s only available on the Google Messages app and on Samsung’s app.

      • Natanael@slrpnk.netEnglish
        1·
        11 months ago

        If you have a Samsung or use the Google SMS messaging app then you can use RCS via their servers, even in Europe

  • jacktherippah@lemmy.worldEnglish
    14·
    11 months ago

    There’s no privacy in SMS messaging anyway. I use the messages app from AOSP. A little ugly but it works just fine.

  • miss_brainfart@lemmy.mlEnglish
    6·
    11 months ago

    The simplemobiletools apps are being forked by one of their bigger co-developers, so I’ll just use that as soon as it’s available.

    Until then, as long as you got the build from F-Droid, there shouldn’t be anything to worry about.

  • olosta@lemmy.worldEnglish
    6·
    11 months ago

    Qksms is dead? That’s a bummer I was quite happy with it after signal stopped being a great SMS app for some reason.

  • Bleeping Lobster@lemmy.worldEnglish
    3·
    11 months ago

    I’m happy with my version of simple messenger, I’ve not updated it for a while… Am I good to keep using that? Can you explain more what you mean by selling out?

  • Carter@feddit.ukEnglish
    3·
    11 months ago

    There’s just no point in developing an app for a dead service. Just use the AOSP messaging app when you need.