They supposedly can be disabled in settings- but we all know that won’t last. They’re going full Microsoft Skype mode and it’s only a matter of time.

  • ASeriesOfPoorChoicesEnglish
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    7 months ago
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    which is weird, I don’t know any other country that still uses SMS other than the usa, for chatting.

    it’s for 2FA from banks (which are now switching to authenticator apps) and bulk scams mostly that I can see.

    • hydration9806English
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      7 months ago
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      Canada. Now you know two! Granted, we are basically the 51st state at this point

    • empireOfLove2OPEnglish
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      6 months ago
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      I use sms quite a lot when network conditions are bad with poor service (rural areas) or heavy congestion (sport events) SMS messages piggybacking on voice channels often stand a better chance of getting through than anything that requires an Internet data connection on 4G. That said I do have unusual use cases, the other 99% of the time normal messaging apps work fine.

    • QuaternionsRockEnglish
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      7 months ago
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      I think it’s because texting became essentially free in North America long before it did in Europe. That, combined with the fact that it came preinstalled on EVERY phone (Android, iOS, BlackBerry, Palm, you name it), gave it enough inertia to stay dominant decades later.

        • QuaternionsRockEnglish
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          7 months ago
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          Yeah, I know it’s probably not the right word for this context, but downloading an app and creating an account is factually a huge barrier for entry, because people are lazy.