They really didn’t have to redesign a text box. Please stop reinventing the wheel. I don’t need another pop up in my life.
Can Textra handle RCS yet? I bought it ages ago but ditched it when it couldn’t handle RCS
I’ve been reading articles for years about how Google say they’re going to open the RCS API to 3rd-Party apps but they have yet to do so.
They’re proobably working on how to track messages on the way, like “hey, wanna use RCS? here’s our com.google.rcs library”, which by coincidence sends every message to Google.
Your cynicism is warranted but a big part of the advertised value is that their rcs implementation is end to end encrypted. Or they say it is, which presumably someone (not me!) would be able to verify.
This is why I scoff every time Google takes jabs at Apple about iMessage. Pot, meet kettle. Until I can use rcs with Textra, they got no room to talk
Nothing can without the blessing of Google, and so far that’s limited to Google Messages and Samsung Messages (whatever it’s called)
Great standard you got there. Fucking hell
FOSS SMS > Google RCS
Or use signal like a civilized person.
Smart compose is there for me. It looks like this bar will have more icons depending on the context and maybe more in the future.
I think it’s an improvement, particularly for folks like my grandfather that have the UI/font scale increased.
On his phone there was basically 1-2 words that would fit in that old text box …
so his text message preview looked like thisThen maybe they should make it an option instead of ruining it for the rest of us because wasting space is the new hip thing.
I hate this new layout. Why is the box smaller than the width of the screen? It was already too small. If anything they should have made it taller and kept it the same width it was before
It boggles my mind how people in the US still use SMS.
I use it because it is more convenient than chat apps.
It’s built-in and just works. It’s also platform independent. I only use it for family though. I use chat apps for friends because they don’t have my mobile number.
And SMS isn’t WhatsApp which is a great thing. Not that I know anyone except my mother that uses it.
Btw, I’m not in the USA.
I guess we cant all be enlightened enough to trust Facebook with everything.
Based on experience dealing with people outside the US for my job, I’d say this person is implying whatsapp as the alternative.
I personally don’t see the point from within the states, given that whatsapp forces you to connect your number to it anyway.
I will just drop this here:
Please dont let Google also scan your Messages?
Is there an alternative RCS App?
RCS is a very incomplete protocol, so the only good implementations are partly proprietary. Also it relies on centralized infrastructure afaik, and weird bureaucratical agreements with carriers.
No, and it seems pretty unlikely.
How do I turn this off? Google search results are of no help 🤔
Use a regular SMS app
Like this one: https://github.com/FossifyOrg/Messages
I also like Deku SMS, its basically like “Silence” which implemented the Signal Protocol for SMS, but silence is unmaintained.
Both partners need to use the app to use encryption, but SMS are often accessible when cell data is used up or in areas with nearly no coverage.
I paid for Textra over a decade ago, and it’s easily the best money I’ve ever spent. It’s the best texting app I’ve ever used and I highly recommend everyone check it out. They still churn out updates regularly and the features are above and beyond most messaging apps.
Me, using Google Voice for SMS: “Y’all have nice UIs sometimes?”
I love textra. I wish I could just get everyone on signal though
I think the only downside to Textra is that it doesn’t support RCS - or I don’t believe it does. They have a newer app called Chomp SMS that does. I’m still using Textra because the only communication I get on it is from companies.
Do you have information on it supporting rcs? I don’t see anything on the play store mentioning it. The first Google results I see say it doesn’t. Seems like it would be a big deal because if they did and would be prominently displayed as I thought only Google messages and Samsung messages supported rcs.
https://chomp.uservoice.com/knowledgebase/articles/1895488-rcs-implementation
I think I’m mistaken. I have no idea where I got it from but I must have seen something to give me the illusion. Ignore what I said.
Does anyone else feel like the quality of the keyboard swipe auto-complete has completely tanked as well?
Just like their search engine, every version of Android gets worse.
While I agree this is bad, do people still use messages? In my country everyone uses WhatsApp or Telegram.
The only time I open the messages app is to get OTPs or something.
Yeah SMS is used a lot in North America, especially in the US, and especially by older people.
I believe it’s due to North America making text messages free early on, while many other places charged for them. As a result, the culture of texting stuck.
Yeah, that’s true. You don’t want to know how many times I’ve messaged someone on an arguably better platform only for them to say, “I prefer text”. It’s annoying…
I would prefer to use a standardised, client–agnostic messaging protocol than anything that requires a specific app.
I stopped using WhatsApp because using a Meta product makes me feel icky. I use Telegram and Matrix to contact drug dealers. My work requires a combination of Google Chat, Teams and Slack. Some of my friends like to stick to Discord.
What would be really great is if we could all decide on one protocol for sending end–to–end encrypted text and media over HTTPS to a globally unique ID and have everyone use whatever client they like. Like SMTP but more streamlined and secure. Google, Apple, Samsung etc can ship devices with a default client, but allow users to install another one that they like more.
But OEMs don’t like things to be open. Apple has iMessage, Google has RCS, and Samsung probably does some bullshit I’m not aware of since committing to the Pixel life. So I will probably always have a folder with 15 different messaging apps.
Samsung is RCS as well, as far as I’m aware RCS is supposed to be a platform agnostic upgrade to MMS. Please correct me if I’m wrong but I thought RCS not being supported by iOS is simply because Apple won’t implement it.
It’s so bad I uninstalled all updates and went back to the version that shipped with the phone. That got rid of it.
I tried to install other versions from apkmirror but the design has been in there a while and they turned it on server side. My P8 shipped with
messages.android _20230529_03_RCO1
and it’s gone for me.
Weird. My version is from 2 weeks ago and I don’t see it.
I thought this was just me but I swear this is so fucking annoying
Completely unnecessary filler space
Lol I’m glad other people are talking about it because same… I updated it and noticed immediately and thought it felt/looked a little odd. Here’s to hoping they listen to feedback if enough is provided! I’ve enjoyed the app, otherwise, for the RCS and what not.
Maybe they reserve that space for future AI suggestions?
Almost certainly the answer. Same reason they just hobbled their “ok Google” by not letting you access it with the screen off anymore. They’re going to switch engines and they want to reintroduce the same features all over again but make it feel like an upgrade.
“We can’t remember what happened last quarter, so surely our users won’t remember how their phones used to be better! Genius! Moving on, time to go make and destroy a new app, how about a notepad app this time?” --Google
On the new pixels, as you start typing you get some AI tools that will rewrite your message, make suggestions, etc
Pixel 7 Pro here, haven’t seen this at all, it’s just dead space for me.
The 7 isn’t new anymore. That person meant the 8
Pixel 8 pro here. I haven’t seen it either.
A tragedy. I hate that little useless space. Those features should be on Gboard not messages
