• Development

  • About the future of the Messages and Dialer app

The AOSP Dialer and Messages app were updated with a notice that they may be removed from the source manifest in the future.

https://android-review.googlesource.com/c/platform/packages/apps/Dialer/+/2613992/1/README
https://android-review.googlesource.com/c/platform/packages/apps/Messaging/+/2614297/1/README

I understand the app will still get security updates when reported for now, but is there anything GrapheneOS will plan to do in response to this issue? Not concerned at all, mainly just curious on how the dev team will take this going forward.

I think if it comes to it, GrapheneOS will need to include some suggestions in a first-time setup wizard. Alternative text messaging clients like QKSMS for example have been discussed extensively on this forum, with various issues having been reported.

Next best thing to do for now might be for the community to talk about the solutions that work for them which may not be widely known. Reach out into Telegram/XDA/r-fossdroid groups etc. to find well maintained solutions from developers who are willing to address privacy/security concerns. The good alternatives can be added to the opening post for visibility and perhaps stickied.

The other thing is that GrapheneOS is an open-source project, but it may be the case that Google Messages is the most usable text messaging client available due to a lack of interest in that space. This is a subtle thing that can slightly fracture communities if the messaging is not clear.

I've replaced everything with Google apps.

Kinda surprised nobody mentioned simple mobile tools options. Some are Foss and some are paid but they seem to be very straightforward no nonsense apps that respect the user quite well

    i try using other open soures apps like simple messaging or simple dialer but they do not give notifications to me or for messaging case do not even receive texts if not on owner profile.

      gosrox do not even receive texts if not on owner profile.

      The stock Messenger and Google Messages apps are the only two apps I know of that can receive and send SMS messages in a secondary use profile. I am not sure why other SMS apps do not. They work fine in the owner profile.

        TheLongArm

        Some are Foss and some are paid

        This isn't a correct dichotomy.

        Apps can be both FOSS and Paid, or neither (Free and not FOSS). The Free in FOSS has nothing to do with cost, price, or profit.

          Is a reason for Google to remove support for them?

          17 days later

          Disclaimer: I don't work for GrapheneOS and am not associated, etc. etc.

          I don't know if there have been any announcements as to a reason for deprecating these, but I feel like the reason is rather plain - they want people using their apps instead.

          The main problem I can think of with including other apps is licensing. You'd have to confirm that their licenses don't conflict with GrapheneOS' license (source), and my current favorite sms app (QKSMS) is distributed under the GPLv3, meaning it isn't legal to ship them together.

          I really like the idea of "suggested apps". I don't know what the legality of suggesting apps with incompatible licenses would be, but either way, I don't suspect this will happen. Doing this might cause some people to assume that the apps are distributed/associated with GrapheneOS and that they have been locked down/reviewed for security in the same way as the OS. I don't know if the GrapheneOS team has the bandwidth/desire to deal with reviewing 10 or so other codebases, but I suspect not.

          On the other hand, this would be a very nice way to help onboard users. In addition, it might be good to find a new SMS app replacement. I don't know; that's for the GrapheneOS devs to decide. But even if they decide not to implement it, remember - you can always install software yourself! Maybe I should make a "first few steps!" website which has a quick tutorial on F-droid, sets up a few QOL apps like Simple Gallery, and tells people how to install Google Services

          Again, take this all with a grain of salt - I am just a random guy on the internet!

            3 months later

            • [deleted]

            • Post #13

            2br-2b The apps are still available on GrapheneOS though, what are the concerns?

              12 days later

              2br-2b

              The idea that you can't ship a generic app like SMS with a certain OS because of the license is absurd. You possibly couldn't integrate an apps code into the OS's native libraries or similar, but GPL and other open source licenses don't say a damn thing about apps that happen to run on an OS. Using an OS public API does not make something a derived work either.

                2br-2b my current favorite sms app (QKSMS) is distributed under the GPLv3, meaning it isn't legal to ship them together.

                But the Linux kernel is under GPLv2... and KHTML (basis of Blink/Chromium) is LGPL... what's the legal problem?