Why You Should Stop Using Your Android Messages App
Google confirmed to me this week that it still doesn’t have a public date for any extension to its end-to-end encryption. This major security gap makes Android Messages more like Facebook Messenger or Telegram, each of which enables 1:1 secret chats, but doesAs Google itself says, “with end-to-end encryption, no one, including Google and third parties, can read eligible messages as they travel between your phone and the phone that you message.
There are three other reasons you should not jump over to Android Messages as a new default. First, WhatsApp has a much larger user base on Android than iPhone, and it is also much more popular on Android than Android Messages, ironically. As such, WhatsApp is essentially a default secure messenger for Android users. The Facebook-owned platform cannot be used as the default SMS platform on your phone, as can the likes of Facebook Messenger and Signal, but this is a minor impediment.
Apple’s iMessage doesn’t offer this feature, either, which is a good reason for Apple users to opt for WhatsApp or Signal instead—While disappearing messages is important for text, it’s critical for images—whether personal photos or videos taken in the heat of the moment or shared in a relationship now past.
While WhatsApp was itself targeted by NSO software, the platform has been welcomely transparent about its efforts to stem future attacks and the need for the industry to do more, even criticizing Apple’s lack of transparency on iMessage security.