Google Messages has much to like and is an excellent messaging app for Android. However, if you are not a fan or don’t want to give Google even more data than it already has about you, some open-source messaging apps are a solid alternative.
These apps prioritize your privacy and security without compromising on essential and helpful features. While there aren’t as many open-source options for texting apps as some of the other categories, you still have some great choices.
Part of the Fossify suite of solid open-source apps, Fossify Messages is a clean and no-nonsense messaging app that offers all the essentials you would want. There is support for both SMS and MMS, and you can send peer-to-peer and group messages. Other features include the ability to block unwanted messages from specific numbers or prevent messages featuring specific words from reaching your inbox.
There is a built-in SMS backup feature to help you keep an archive of your conversations or transfer them to a new smartphone. You can also customize the app’s look with your preferred colors and add password protection for enhanced privacy and security.
Yes. No. Kind of?
Like the Fossify apps, Goodwy’s Right suite of Android apps is a fork of Simple Mobile Tools. Part of this suite, the Right Messages app is another excellent open-source messaging app. One of its highlights is the app design that mimics the Messages app from iOS 16. If you’re a fan of the iOS look or have recently switched from Apple’s mobile platform, you’ll find the app’s design to be familiar and comforting. However, it’s not a complete rip-off.
The app also offers several customization options to tweak the look of various aspects, such as different-colored icons for different contacts, the design of the overflow icon, the design of the speech bubble in texts, and more. You can also import and export your SMS and MMS messages. Additional features, such as blocking support, archiving, password protection for the app, and the ability to select and copy part of an SMS are also available.
Deku SMS is a bit different from my other recommendations, as it offers end-to-end encryption, a feature you won’t typically find in regular messaging apps. As SMS is inherently non-encrypted, the app relies on its own encryption to keep your messages secure. However, that also means the person you are sending your SMS to must be using Deku to get encryption support. Those who don’t have Deku installed will get your texts as regular unencrypted messages.
Another nifty feature that the Deku supports is the ability to send images over SMS messages, something that’s also only possible with other Deku users. This feature is notable because Deku doesn’t have MMS support built-in or uses the internet to send texts.
You also get the ability to sync and forward messages to your custom cloud server. So, whether you have access to your phone or not, you can check your messages.
All about that FOSS, ’bout that FOSS.
A revival of the beloved texting app QKSMS, Quik SMS is known for its clean and minimal interface. While you don’t get a ton of customization options, there is support for different color themes and automatic contact colors. The app also includes all the basics you need, such as support for both SMS and MMS, scheduled messages, SMS backup and restore, and message blocking.
In other highlights, you can add a delay to sent messages, send voice messages, attach pretty much any file to your texts, and get support for an external text-to-speech service. While the app doesn’t offer numerous fancy features, its no-frills approach is preferred by many.
Smartphone keyboards can be creepy.
Unfortunately, you won’t typically get RCS support in third-party messaging apps, whether they are open or closed source, as it’s a pretty complex and expensive endeavor that requires either extensive network-level integration or access to Google’s Jive Mobile platform API, both of which are a bit too much for small or independent developers. There are some third-party RCS platforms, but these are primarily limited to RCS business messaging rather than peer-to-peer RCS.
Samsung Messages used to be one of the only third-party apps to offer built-in RCS support. However, that’s also largely gone, as carriers such as Verizon have stopped offering RCS messages through the app and instead encourage you to use Google Messages.
Android is home to a plethora of impressive open-source apps that serve as excellent alternatives to their closed-source counterparts. The messaging apps that I have discussed are just a sliver of this ecosystem. If you’re interested in more fantastic apps like these, check out our guide to the best open-source Android apps and its follow-up, featuring nine more open-source apps.
Who needs the Play Store?
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why would anyone use any of these apps? pretty much everyone uses RCS now and none of these apps will work
Def, before rcs I would be instead in these. Not now
It’s unfortunate RCS support is limited to Google messages. Always liked Textra but got tired of poor quality pictures and videos from iPhones. Now that Apple has RCS support, I can’t justify anything other than Google messages.
I’m with you as well. I used to use textra but seeing it did not have RCS went back to Google. But still it was a good app.
Messaging apps without RCS support are loosing ground. Otherwise Microsoft SMS Organiser is a great App with features like message foldering, financial msg analytics etc.
I use Messages installed as a Progressive Web App on my Windows 11 Pro laptop
It is so convenient and a pleasure to quickly respond to family thru there like that whenever I get a new text I can effortlessly respond and with images too to family on my laptop
Anyone else use Google Messages for Web installed on their computer as a PWA ?
I use Chromium Hibbiki version installed downloaded from winget as the software for this PWA
I also use Edge for Google Keep but I might uninstall that one and instate Keep with Chromium as its repository back end .
Any kind thoughts ?
I use the web app and have a love hate relationship with it.
Whereas I like that Google Messages is available on any device, their execution is crap. The app will randomly lose synchronisation and will have to be set up again, which involves me finding my cell phone to set up that synch, voiding out the convenience of having the app anywhere.
Really wish Google would make it like Apple’s iMessage, just make the app automatically work on any device I’m logged into my Google account with, like Gmail, photos, YouTube, etc do. If I’m on a device logged into my Google account, it should just work.
Bruce The deal is they did change it to Google account sign-in, but they still log it out randomly and often, and on re-logging in with your Google account, it still makes you do a verification through your phone selecting a picture on the phone that matches the picture on the computer, totally negating any benefit of using the Google account sign-in.
Edward I don’t use Windows, I’m on Linux Mint.
As I live in Asia, everyone and his dog uses Zalo in preference to anything else. There are native Mac and Windows apps available but on Linux it’s a web app; it still works well though. Signal has a native Linux app which I use with some contacts. I also have Viber because I can use it like Skype used to be, i.e. make phone calls to landlines anywhere in the world. On my Android phone, if I need to message anyone, I just use Google Messages but that is very rare these days. It’s personal choice at the end of the day and, crucially, what all your contacts use.
Yep. Lost me completely. I don’t understand all your stuff but wish I did. Very clever. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
I was expecting to see messaging apps that actually had some amount of privacy to them. Instead you tout out alternatives that don’t encrypt anything. This article needs some alternatives
TEXTRA, way more personalization for me.
Stupid, poorly thought out advice. “To avoid giving Google more data”??? RCS is end-to-end encrypted. There isn’t any data they can get out of that. Know how you can leak MORE data? By ditching the RCS supporting app in favor of an open source app that only has unencrypted SMS. Yeah, that’ll show ’em.
No reason to use any of the apps above.
I use Samsung messages (with Verizon.) It does infact support RCS messaging. So whatever information you gathered for your article that but if it was incorrect. I just wanted to bring that to your attention so as to not mislead your readers into believing that false statement. Otherwise a decent article but that definitely required mentioning.
But Samsung was instructing us to move over to Google. What the hell are they doing.
Samsung WAS removing RCS and telling people to use Google.
Last message
It’s not an invisibility cloak.
Chrome isn’t always the best option.
Even if your PC works just fine, you should still update the BIOS.
Where has this been all my life?
Can we all just stop complaining and support good software?
It’s great at all the wrong things.