Messages For Android
Overview
Messages for Android, developed by Akshay Mehta, is designed as a direct replacement for stock telephony messaging clients. One of the application's unique features is its post-call screen, which triggers a localized overlay immediately after ending a phone call. This overlay uses the system's PhoneStateListener API to prompt users to send a follow-up text or schedule a reminder, streamlining the transition between calls and texts.
Despite these functional features, the app's visual customization tools often come at the expense of performance. To support various theme changes, chat backgrounds, and notification bubble styles, the app must load multiple resources into system memory. This process often leads to performance lag, particularly on entry-level hardware. This resource load is further complicated by the app's heavy integration of third-party advertising frameworks. As a result, users frequently experience severe database query starvation, with the conversation thread database taking up to ten seconds to load even over high-speed Wi-Fi connections.
Furthermore, the application's text editor features a persistent input validation bug. When users draft and attempt to edit multi-line, high-word-count messages, the text input box can collapse the paragraph formatting, rendering the entire draft as a single line. This issue forces users to scroll horizontally and makes editing difficult. The app also has problems handling MMS protocol transactions. Because there is no visual upload progress indicator, users often send multiple duplicate images, as they assume the first transmission failed. In addition, the group messaging engine sometimes defaults to routing group texts as individual SMS messages to each recipient rather than utilizing proper MMS group threads. This behavior can disrupt the flow of group conversations and lead to high carrier messaging fees.
Pros & Cons
Integrated After-Call Screen: The post-call window allows users to quickly schedule reminders or write follow-up texts.
Offline Telephony Support: The app handles basic SMS and MMS messages reliably without requiring an active cellular data or Wi-Fi connection.
Extensive Theme Customization: Users can personalize the layout with a wide selection of background patterns, chat bubble styles, and interface colors.
Built-in Spam Filtering: It uses localized spam filters to keep the primary inbox clean and organized.
Local Database Archiving: The app includes simple backup and restore tools to export chat histories when switching devices.
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Severe Loading Latency: The app has long loading times, often taking more than ten seconds to open basic chat lists.
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Improper Group Chat Routing: The app often splits group chats into individual SMS threads instead of using standard MMS group routing.
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Text Input Formatting Bug: Editing long messages can collapse paragraphs into a single unreadable line, making reviews difficult.
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Intrusive Ad Placement: The interface is heavily cluttered with ads that lack clear close options, leading to accidental clicks.
Download
Get it on Google Play 
Get it on App Store FAQs
Does Messages for Android support Google's RCS standard?
RCS features are generally limited because Google restricts third-party access to its proprietary RCS APIs, meaning the app relies primarily on SMS and MMS protocols.
How do I transfer my messaging history to a new device?
The app includes a built-in backup utility that exports chat history to a local backup file, which can then be transferred to a new phone.
Why does this application require system location permissions?
The app requests location access to share coordinates via MMS and to help its third-party ad networks deliver localized ads.
Can the after-call reminder pop-ups be configured or disabled?
Yes, users can customize or turn off the post-call reminder overlay directly through the application's core settings menu.
Is my text communication history encrypted by the developer?
The app encrypts data during transit, but the security of local message storage depends on the system-level encryption of the host device.
Hot Reviews
Users express frustration with the app's performance, noting that it frequently freezes for over ten seconds during startup.
Many reviews criticize the high density of ads, noting that banner ads block the keyboard and lead to accidental clicks.
Users complain that group messages are split into individual SMS threads, causing confusion and duplicate notifications.
Users report significant delays when sending images, as well as preview glitches that make it difficult to see if an image is sending.