Phone = Google Pixel 7 Pro
OS = iodeOS 6.1 (Mar 11, 2025) Android 15 (Feb 18, 2025)
Phone Service - T-Mobile or ATT
I am trying to find a function rich messaging application to use. Fossify Messages comes stock with iode. I have also installed Google Messages and have been playing with both. I cannot see a path currently to get Fossify Messages to work with RCS. This throws out “group” functionality and calls into question interoperability w/ Apple. If anyone knows of a path forward here (or with another FOSS solution) I would love to hear it. There is a lot of chatter posted regarding getting Google Messages to function over a long period of time (years). Currently the only option that I understand works involved validating the app on a “full google” device, backing it up, and then installing on an AOSP ROM platform (however, I have not seen that iode…or even LineageOS) has been successfully done this way. I have heard that it is and I have heard that it is not a MicroG support issue and I do not know which to believe. Does anyone have a (any) full-function alternative that goes beyond just SMS/MMS?
Sorry to be a bringer of bad news, but I don’t think that RCS messaging is going to work without full GAPPS, and even then it may also need root to do some things. But with iodéOS and microG I don’t think we will have success. This microG issue thread marked RCS support as “Not Planned”.
With RCS not being a secure as advertised, and with the bugginess of it, and the interoperability questions with Apple, and the locked down to only use Google Messages, etc. I really hope that the world (well, the USA in my case) will not embrace it and will finally move to more secure universal messaging like Signal as default. But I don’t think that will happen either
I agree with your perspective(s) for the most part. I did see the microG thread but that was about 1.5 years ago…I was hoping that planning may be rethought. Samsung is actually embracing RCS now…which is a 180 degree turn. I agree about the concerns with RCS…I’m just looking for an app that allows interoperability with the major that do not (seem) to care about privacy. I am on the Signal bandwagon…just bummed that many/most others don’t seem to grasp what it provides.
I am in the same situation, nearly all people I interact with are on their blue bubble iOS world. It auto-negotiates down to MMS for me, which works but isn’t secure (I wouldn’t personally trust iMessage with anything either), doesn’t allow “emoji responses” without sending full text messages back, etc. I haven’t read recently but MMS is due to be sunsetted in the USA, not sure of the timeline. Of course most of the world never embraced MMS which was a good move, it allowed adoption of other solutions not so tied to carriers.
We can keep hoping, it is broader than just the microG community that doesn’t have RCS functionality so hopefully someone comes through. But it being a closed solution that is deeply embedded between Google and the carriers means I don’t have a lot of hope…
SimpleX is now my daily driver for my people who are privacy and security focused. Pros: Truly private signup (no phone nbr or email needed). Very good company. Very good technology. Cons: Some chatter about the ability to break the technology - sounds VERY tough to break to me but thought I would mention.
Signal was my daily driver. Pros: Many (several ?) people have it or have heard of it. Very good technology. Cons: Many people have heard of it (and it is in somewhat of a spotlight?).
Messenger for all the rest… Still looking for a feature rich application with interoperability for SMS/MMS, RCS, iMessage. I too am trying to de-google Google Messenger to accommodate the masses that use RCS and iMessage even with all the data security concerns around those technologies. No answer yet.
