SMS app that supports scheduled messages?

Equal2024

The AOSP messenger app is fine. I don't care one wit about aesthetics. However, I'd like the ability to send scheduled SMS messages.

What are my options?

I tried QKSMS, but it wants me to pay money to unlock that feature, and the payment button doesn't work on the standalone APK.

I tried the Simple Mobile Tools Messenger app which I thought was great—until I realized it was sold to an ad company that is likely data mining the app. There isn't a release from the Fossify fork for the messenger app yet, and I don't know how to compile it.

ConnectYou doesn't have this feature.

What about Google Messages? I've never used it before. I care about privacy and don't like being dependent on Google. What's the deal with RCS? Is it worth going for? What permissions should I configure? I think it has the scheduled message feature.

Are there any other options? I don't care if the app has been abandoned; the AOSP app apparently hasn't been updated in many years.

N1b

Equal2024 I have the same issue and hope to see a good alternative recommended here. For now my strategy is to wait for the Fossify messenger app to be available on the F-Droid repository and in the meantime not update the Simple Mobile Tools messenger. Maybe it's even okay to update as long as it keeps not requiring internet access and is the only app from this dev on my device, but it's not a sustainable solution. Let's hope for a quick release of the Fossify messenger or a better alternative.

Btw. if you can, please donate to good open source projects like GOS, Molly, Fossify, NewPipe, AntennaPod etc., it really helps them staying on top of their game.

DeletedUser40

I'm not sure of an SMS app that supports scheduled messages, but Google messages RCS has E2EE, while SMS lacks encryption, imo you should use that if available. If you use Signal, that has scheduled messages support

Equal2024

DeletedUser40 I use Signal, but I can't convince anyone else to use Signal. Unless Signal has SMS support...does it?

My understanding is that users of Samsung phones use a different SMS app, and other OEMs are probably similar. Does RCS work between those apps? And do you need to turn RCS on, and do both users need to have it turned on for it to work?

Equal2024

Ah. One more thing—I use KDE Connect because I don't check my phone often. I assume RCS messages aren't going to work with KDE Connect..?

missing-root

Equal2024

KDE connect syncs the messages that are on your device, so I dont see why it should not work.

Ninja4694

There is Quik, a fork that is somewhat maintained.

Google Messages only work with Play services, right? So as long as the IPC permission is not there, I dont know...

I would never use SMS, if so then out of need because I have no internet. Deku SMS supports AES encryption, and it works great!

Would this RCS have benefits if my bank etc believe sending stuff over SMS is a good idea? Would those be E2EE or highly dependend on the provider? Because that is pretty much my only use of this bad technology.

[deleted]

It will probably not look pretty but you can do it through app like this https://f-droid.org/packages/com.jens.automation2/ as an extension of your sms app and much more.

Equal2024

N1b

N1b For now my strategy is to wait for the Fossify messenger app to be available on the F-Droid repository and in the meantime not update the Simple Mobile Tools messenger.

The Fossify Messenger fork now has a release on Github: https://github.com/FossifyOrg/Messages/releases

There's also a link in the README to IzzyOnDroid if you're not using Obtainium.

N1b Btw. if you can, please donate to good open source projects like GOS, Molly, Fossify, NewPipe, AntennaPod etc., it really helps them staying on top of their game.

I have spent many hundreds of dollars in donations on free software programs.

Ninja4694

Get QKSMS from F-Droid. It has all features unlocked. It isn't maintained anymore, if that matters to you. Up until recently I've been using it and it still works fine.

I now use Google Messages. SMS is wide open security-wise, so I'm not too concerned about Google. Having at least some conversations claim to be E2EE is a worthwhile tradeoff in my opinion. RCS itself and the other features (like iPhone reaction translation) are quite nice. You can disable the Network permission and use it without RCS if you don't have Play Services or aren't concerned about the possibility of Inter Processes Communication / Mutual Consent.

Equal2024

Ninja4694

Ninja4694 Get QKSMS from F-Droid. It has all features unlocked. It isn't maintained anymore, if that matters to you. Up until recently I've been using it and it still works fine.

I've tried QKSMS, but it requires me to pay to unlock the features, and the Pay button doesn't work without Google Play Services.

Ninja4694 You can disable the Network permission and use it without RCS if you don't have Play Services or aren't concerned about the possibility of Inter Processes Communication / Mutual Consent.

Thanks for the suggestions on how to configure Google Messages.

I've thought about this for a long time. Google Messages as a harm reduction strategy is valid, but the chances of getting off it once I'm on it seem very low. It was really hard ditching Facebook Messenger for the same reason. SMS has its annoyances, so there's a chance that my texting partners might get annoyed and ask me to switch to something with more capabilities, and I can give them my only other option: Signal. I don't want to be part of the network effect keeping people on Google Messages.

That's where I've landed for now, anyway.

missing-root KDE connect syncs the messages that are on your device, so I dont see why it should not work.

Well, it doesn't work with Signal, for example. RCS isn't sent over SMS, right?

Ninja4694

missing-root I think Play Services is required for RCS but not the app itself. Could be wrong though.

Ditching SMS would be great but getting folks to switch to something else isn't always possible.

My understanding is that only RCS between Google Messages is encrypted. RCS itself does not provide it. So unless your bank somehow starts using Google Messages, there wouldn't be much benefit.

hemlockiv

Equal2024 Check out P-SMS on github. It's a fork of QKSMS and all the formerly pro features are now free, including scheduling. Which is kind of a bummer bc I was a support of qksms and actively contributed to the repo, but unfortunately the dev just didn't have time to keep maintaining it

missing-root

I suppose SMS is stored in some standardised way, apps can have permission to read SMS. If this allows them to read RCS messages then kde connect works.

There is no permission to read signal messages.

Equal2024

This recent news has made me even less comfortable about using Google Messages: https://www.forbes.com/sites/zakdoffman/2024/01/27/new-details-free-ai-upgrade-for-google-and-samsung-android-users-leaks/?sh=5f8574568eaf

akc3n

Equal2024

That is a very poor quality article and is full misinformation. See comment explaining why: https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/9785-future-ai-integrations-to-stock-android/16

This recent news has made me even less comfortable about using Google Messages: https://www.forbes.com/sites/zakdoffman/2024/01/27/new-details-free-ai-upgrade-for-google-and-samsung-android-users-leaks/?sh=5f8574568eaf

Side note: FYI, you're link includes a tracker /?sh=5f8574568eaf.