Hello to all! I was looking for sms app alternatives to Google and I’m between qksms and silence. Any other one?
qksms indeed
I’d say don’t bother and just go with https://www.f-droid.org/packages/com.simplemobiletools.smsmessenger/
I had some issues with that app like the wrong name displayed for a phone number. Then I looked at the issues and saw https://github.com/SimpleMobileTools/Simple-SMS-Messenger/issues/640, which I consider a dealbreaker. I like all of the other simple apps, but the SMS app needs some TLC. I’ve since switched to qksms and it’s been the right sort of boring.
Unfortunately Silence has been unmaintained for years now, so I wouldn’t recommend it.
I am still using it on my A11. It just works.
Simple sms
I wish there was a PGP SMS app since the Apple app store does not allow for submitting an SMS app to its store, but the Apple app store does have PGP apps like a PGP keyboard app and PGP encrypt/decrypt apps and PGP is a good standard in my opinion.
Silence is good but the E2EE feature is limited to those who use Silence on Android, so your iPhone friends will not have E2EE. However Silence has not seen much updates which tells me it is discontinued.
QKSMS is a good basic SMS app that I have used before, its FOSS
If you want to get your phone number off of your SIM card and on a “server” you can also check out JMP chat. The cons of this is that it works over XMPP protocol and it is not using encryption between your device and the server, but your phone number is stored on a server and not on your device which enhances your privacy from phone number tracking. You can also SMS and call on other devices with JMP such as tablets and desktop. I hope JMP chat introduces Matrix protocol a an alternative to XMPP and makes a good Matrix client for mobile and desktop.
Been using JMP.Chat for a few years now, gotta say as someone in Canada where phone prices are insane, having calls and texts for 3.60$ a month is really refreshing. I also agree about the Matrix thing, I would prefer using a Matrix client instead of XMPP as I find that they are generally much more polished and modern as well as more feature packed.
