The Science of Android Messaging: My current Arsenal and experiences

SMS, this has been the standard of messaging throughout most platforms. However, as of late SMS has been struggling, low-quality video and photo sharing, slow texts, and the daily double of “what? I never got your text”. These are more than minor annoyances. These issues have made my family beg me to not text them through SMS.

 Instead, they’ve asked me to dip my toes into the diverse and conflicting world of Android messaging. So far my current arsenal of messaging services includes WhatsApp, RCS (via Google Messages), and hangouts (I will explain). I’ll first go over my experience with each member of my arsenal, afterward, I’ll discuss my overall thoughts and summarize.

Whatsapp

Whatsapp has been a staple in the privacy-focused encrypted messaging world. This messenger has by far been the one to beat in my arsenal due to its harmony of reliability and it’s current cross-platform status along with the end-to-end encryption. Unlike some of the other services in my arsenal, Whatsapp is the most reliable messenger I use. Whenever I send a text to anybody I am certain they received it, thanks in part to the ✓✓ Whatsapp inserts as guarantee that the message was sent and a blue variant of those checkmarks as an assurance the message was read. Whatsapp also sends messages and images almost instantaneously. Another convenience is the incorporation of both voice and video calls, both are reliable and trusty enough to use in a pinch. 

 Something I’ve studied is the relatively clean look of the interface, other messengers have had trouble in that area and so far I have no complaint about the overall design and aesthetic of the app(except for the font and apearance of the bubbles). Recently Whatsapp has added a long-sought setting: dark mode; this finally allows users to switch the entire interface to a dark theme that will correspond with the system-wide dark mode in both IOS and Android. 

 Currently, I’ve switched most of my conversations to Whatsapp and one would expect that I’m extremely happy with this service, but I’m not completely satisfied. The one item I find to be lacking in Whatsapp is style. This has been plaguing me since my attempt to switch, I simply dislike the style of the bubbles in Whatsapp. I honestly prefer the style of bubbles in Google Messages and in pretty much any other messaging app. I hope that one day Whatsapp will include a way to change the style of the bubbles until then I’ll have to endure the current state of Whatsapp.

RCS(Via Google Messages)

RCS is a very difficult subject due to how it’s been handled by both the wireless carriers and Google. I’ll do a separate article explaining RCS but for now, I’ll simply tell about my experience with the implementation that’s been provided by Google in Google Messages.  

Out of all the services in my arsenal, RCS is the most satisfying. RCS can rival all the features of Whatsapp all while having a style and fonts that are simply stunning. It includes integration with the dialer and google duo, the official video calling service provided by Google. It offers near-instant messaging and a text box to show when your message has been delivered and read. 

 You may be asking why this isn’t the service to beat even though it is the one I prefer. The answer lies in access. Most of the wireless carriers support it but the issue remains that the majority of people I text are not on android. The fact that RCS has not been supported by apple has compromised this experience to the handful of android users in my life. There’s also the issue of no end-to-end encryption, I truly hope that one day RCS can be end-to-end encrypted but until then Whatsapp is my only choice for secure messaging.

Hangouts

OK just to be clear I’m surprised I’m able to use hangouts after all these years of being out of support. I don’t ever use this service to send messages to someone, others send messages to me on this platform. I honestly have almost no use for it and I hope to get rid of possibly in the fall. 

Final thoughts

Overall the most valuable asset in my arsenal of messaging apps is Whatsapp thanks to its reliability and widespread use. My personal preference still lies with RCS, I simply hope that apple will adopt it to improve messaging for all. I honestly don’t know how or why I have hangouts in my app library but there it is. I feel that having this variety of services is great, using each in its unique way is helping add to the diversity of Android. That diversity is what makes android special to me and I wouldn’t have it any other way.