i would recommend the use of SimpleSMS but install it on fdroid instead of the playstore, the simpletools collection was bought by a privacy-unfriendly company
this post was submitted on 22 Jan 2024
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Privacy
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If I remeber correctly the simple suite has gone to shit and has been bought out
fdroid blocked any new updates, i know it's not a good idea go use outdated apps but in that case simpletools suite dosn't require internet to be used
Fossify apps are the spiritual successor (direct fork) of the old simples. Should be on fdroid, if sms isn't there yet keep an eye out I'm sure it will be.
Since SMS is already sent in the clear, I actually use Google Messages. For those who also have it, it upgrades the SMS to RCS with end-to-end encryption. Sure, it's nowhere near as good as Signal (which OP says these people won't use), but it's better than plain-text SMS.
Yeah, qksms's handling of group messages is really klunky, too.
Deku SMS looks nice, but it doesn't understand group SNS at all. Neither does Connect You (it also doesn't have search-by-name for texts, and has trouble linking contacts to texts). Simple SMS is now verboten.
Despite warts, I'm stuck with qksms as well.
Edit Fossify Messages has been released on fdroid. It supports groups, looks nice, and is working for me so far!
There's no privacy with SMS. It's sent in the clear. There's no changing this with an app.
I understand thats its sent in plain text, I just want something that works and doesn't have trackers built in.
I already tried getting my family and friends to use signal, so that cant really be done because none of them want to use it.
If they won't change to something better like SimpleX then you could use https://github.com/wrwrabbit/Partisan-SMS . It is a fork of qksms that adds privacy, it will do nothing for video quality or anything else though.
But only if both ends use the same app.
Which I always thought was a smart path forward, just getting people to switch apps, even for SMS, isike puling teeth.
Is it maintained though? Last commit and release were 8 months ago.
If it works...
Signal does sms but they may not be as privacy friendly as they claim. Although idk.
Signal and SMS changed some time ago, making a lot of people angry. https://support.signal.org/hc/en-us/articles/360007321171-Can-I-send-SMS-MMS-with-Signal