Ask HN: Why does Android Messages need my phone? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Why does Android Messages need my phone?

4 pointscatlover764 comments

This has to be one of the most frustrating apps I have ever used, and it all comes down to the fact that the web app wants to "connect with my phone" in order to work, and is incredibly bad and inconsistent at doing so.

Is it really just getting my texts from my phone? Are the phone and the web app not pulling and pushing from and to some external service? Is this a real-world constraint that is a problem for all apps that want to act as an interface for SMS?

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SMS (and MMS) for your phone depend on your phone's SIM card, and your mobile provider's service, the one designated by your SIM. This is not VoIP.

SMS isn't like email, where there are MTAs and MUAs. SMS is very peer-to-peer. SMS messages go through the mobile network and are delivered directly to your phone with best effort. They aren't stored on a server. MMS stuff like images can be on a server, so you receive your notification and then you hit a "Download" button on it.

If you want a fully online service that doesn't (directly) depend on your SIM, then use Google Voice. You can obtain a Google Voice number if you have a phone. Then you can send and receive SMS, MMS, and voice calls over the web, on any computer or smartphone.

I can use SMS with Skype, with the caveat that some SMS systems won’t work with it. (e.g. most dating sites will only send verification SMS to a real phone for instance.)

Ah, I see gotcha, thanks. Makes sense--I only vaguely remember what the Android SMS app landscape was like before I was forced to switch to Android Messages, but it felt like messages were stored in an external service/database. Like, my phone could be off, and I could use a web app to text. However, after reading your comment, I realize that may have been the case for me because I had Google Fi for a while.

I don't think its necessary , i think they use it to spy on people and later use this type of info against themselves

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