As for messaging apps it means, Android Messages it is not usually the first option. It is more common to remember the SMS application pre-installed on most Android phones when WhatsApp fails and we need a quick alternative.
However, Is it free to chat with the Android Messages app or not? The truth is that there is no clear answer, as it depends on a series of factors. We tell you how you can know if the messages you send with this application are free or they are counting you as SMS.
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Until a few years ago, the Android message application was only used to send the SMS and MMS of a lifetime. Whether they cost you money or not depends on whether you have contracted a rate that includes the unlimited sending of these messages. Generally, the normal thing is that they cost money.
This changed in 2018, when Google got serious with RCS, the communication protocol that Google calls chat functions, and that is sometimes known as “the WhatsApp of the operators”. Messages sent using Chat are sent using the internet (data or Wi-Fi), similar to how WhatsApp works for example.
At first, it was the operators who started the deployment of RCS support, although finally Google has filled in the gaps with Jibe, available on supported mobiles where the operator has not activated it yet. In Spain, the chat functions are began to activate globally last year.
Therefore, whether or not messages sent with Google Messages cost you depends on whether they have been sent as SMS or as a chat message. If they have been sent as a chat message, their cost could be the data they have used (if you pay for data in your rate). If it has been sent as an SMS, its cost will be that of sending an SMS, if it is not included in your rate.
In the Google Messages application, if you tap on one of the messages, information about the date it was sent and the text “SMS”, if it is an SMS. If it is a chat message, a padlock icon is displayed, as all conversations with Google’s RCS are encrypted.
However, you are probably more interested in knowing if the message is going to cost you money before sending it. In this case, you must look at the send button, after writing the message. Again, free chat messages add a padlock icon. SMS messages, which can potentially cost you money, include SMS text.
You must take into account that both you and the other person has to have chat functions activated. Otherwise, SMS messages will be used. Activation is very simple, but it must be done manually by each user, so even today it is quite possible that several of your contacts have not signed up.
To activate the chat functions it is necessary to give a series of requirements: that your mobile is compatible, that your operator supports them and / or that they are otherwise available from Google’s Jibe Mobile operator. If going to the General Settings> Chat functions of the Messages app it appears that your mobile is not compatible, then you can only send and receive SMS.
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The news
Chatting with the Android Messages app is free, but only if certain conditions are met
was originally published in
Engadget Android
by
Ivan Ramirez
.
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