How to use signal??

3 months ago by Beehaw_Girl to c/signal

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.

Greyghoster 10 points 3 months ago

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.

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Beehaw_Girl 1 point 3 months ago

Would you happen to know of any alternative SMS apps that Google will not infiltrate on my android phone?

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otter 3 points 3 months ago

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?

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Beehaw_Girl 1 point 3 months ago

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.

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otter 1 point 3 months ago

Ohh ok, so I think it's this?

https://www.samsung.com/...

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 :)

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artyom 6 points 3 months ago

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.

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trxxruraxvr 6 points 3 months ago

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.

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BunScientist 2 points 3 months ago

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

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dhkuq3645 1 point 3 months ago

you mean samsung discontinuing their app? well that's just their business

if it's that you can't use rcs on other messaging apps, that's sadly always been a thing.

if you just want sms, get any sms apps from fdroid

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gopal 0 points 3 months ago

@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.

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