Messaging app Signal has now decided to end SMS services for its Android users. The company stated that SMS support no longer makes sense. The company pushed out a blog post that gave detailed reasoning behind the discontinuation of the feature.
Signal is giving users several months to transition away from SMS in signal and export their text messages to another app. The company has said that it will only directly affect the users that have used Signal as their default SMS app on Android. And for Android users that don't use Signal as their default SMS app, they will need to select a new default SMS app on their phones. In case the users want to keep it they will need to export the messages from Signal to a different app.
One of the main reasons as stated by the company is that the firm wanted to prioritize the security and privacy of its users. Users may find SMS messages convenient but the technology used by the company is old and it makes the users vulnerable and insecure. To add further the company said that the service is routed through wireless carriers that often face problems like data breaches.
The other reason stated by the platform is to ensure that the users don't incur any unexpected messaging fees. This was because many users had complained about high messaging fees because while they thought they were using Signal messages they were actually using SMS. So by removing the feature there will now be a clear understanding as to what the platform can offer and there will be no misunderstanding.
How to Export Signal SMS messages?
You need to go to the Settings in your Signal account, select Chats and then SMS/MMS. Once it is enabled then you can export messages and pick a different default SMS app.
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