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  • New GrapheneOS User: Why is the default messaging app so old?

Thank you both! Yes, I assumed the GrapheneOS developers had their ways of keeping it safe, but it's also very good to hear that there will be a more updated app to take its place...

greetdnashoe I installed and 'tested' QKSMS yesterday (from f-droid). I can recommend you take a look. It has a nice interface and has the advantage that you can use it to backup (and restore) your SMS.

The Default App is fine for me and that is what I will still use day to day. I actually prefer to just continue using the old app because it is fairly simple and, in my limited understanding, likely to be as or no less secure than a frequently changing up to date app from a less trusted source than AOSP.

      If I may make a suggestion to the GrapheneOS developers... can you not just patch out the warning ("made for an older version") of the Messages and Phone apps? I think otherwise these apps are both okay, not great, but good enough.

        Oggyo Thanks for the heads up, I had seen there was QuiKSMS too when I was deciding what to test.

        Random chance? choose between an older, stable app with no recent updates but has/had a lot of users ... or a fork with a new developer. Which one do I trust more? I have no way of knowing.

        This is one reason why I stick with the default apps. I find the whole ios/android app ecosystem a bit Wild West really. How can folk know what to trust? I admit Linux might be no better or worse if you are not careful. I trust my distribution but wish I had the SElinux skillset to get Linux working for me in the same way AOSP/GrapheneOS does its stuff. I think Flatpak is aiming to do this sort of thing but I've not been there yet.

        Nice thing with GrapheneOS is that I don't mind trying something out in a secondary profile:

        • install app, disconnect from network/wifi,
        • go into the AppInfo > toggle off all/most permissions especially network and storage.
        • Open up app, play around to understand it then uninstall or disable the app.

        In this case I was able to learn all I needed about QKSMS (and solve my problem, yay) without ever connecting the phone to a network whilst the app was enabled. Because of the option to backup SMS I decided to just disable QKSMS rather than uninstall it.

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            • Post #11
            • Edited

            matchboxbananasynergy I admire your talent for saying things the right way, I wish I could do that. World is not perfect. I need to stay away from commenting on things I find flaw with and stay on the helpful side. You're welcome to delete after reading.

              tornsail-smllwng
              Yes, this is a good question. I guess, somebody who can read the app's code probably can get the answer. I was a longtime QKSMS user. No major bug and it served me well. Then decided to switch to a similar but maintained app. Fork of QKSMS was a perfect candidate. Initial versions of QUIK had some bugs that really put some doubts about the skills/trust of its developer.
              Like you, running in an isolated environment/profile with minimum permission is a way to go.

                I've started using QUIK SMS (QKSMS revival) as the AOSP SMS app stopped showing contact names for me regardless of what I tried to fix. Prefer it so far, got it off Droidify.

                dot_______166 The GrapheneOS maintenance team has other priorities, such as inter-app communication scopes, or a backup solution, which are in high demand. Cool features and beautiful applications, even if maintained by another team (which always require an integration load), are not a priority for the foreseeable future.

                  matchboxbananasynergy That's nice to know, even if that's not GOS focus at the moment. I personally got Google Messages to work with RCS, but some people prefer to go "no compromise with Google" route.

                    dot_______166 Last I checked, lineageos was using the same upstream aosp applications, just with a whole bunch of very questionable and dangerous patches, for instance, they added some stuff to the dialer to interact with 3rd party servers for callerid.

                        Dumdum How do you define "stable"? And why do you assume that it should have more changes than once a year? If there's nothing wrong with something, why does it need to be fixed?

                            bookreader How do you define "stable"?

                            Versions that aren't pre-releases, I imagine, which certainly seems to be what Oggyo was referring to as they said Feb 2021 (the date of the last non-prerelease update).

                            And why do you assume that it should have more changes than once a year? If there's nothing wrong with something, why does it need to be fixed?

                            *looks at the QKSMS github and its 499 open issues *

                            I'm not "assuming" anything. I made a logical conclusion based on available info. Since there's a fork which continues development of QKSMS, it's safe to say I'm not the only one who understands the app should have more changes than once a year.

                                tornsail-smllwng I installed and 'tested' QKSMS yesterday (from f-droid)

                                Last updated 3 years ago. Use QUIK SMS instead. It's an updated fork, also available from f-Droid.

                                  Fossify SMS Messenger is a good alternative.
                                  Though I use the default apps since it works perfectly fine and I don't want to install more apps in my phone.

                                  Viewpoint0232 If I may make a suggestion to the GrapheneOS developers... can you not just patch out the warning ("made for an older version") of the Messages and Phone apps? I think otherwise these apps are both okay, not great, but good enough.

                                  I think this alert is due to the apps tagetSdk is 24 and min is 34(android 14)