Home How to How to Make Signal Your Default Messaging App on Android

[Update]How to Make Signal Your Default Messaging App on Android

January 14, 2021

Update: Added a workaround to fix the “not receiving text messages after making Signal your default SMS app”. Signal Private Messenger is the best alternative to WhatsApp. The main priority of the app is users’ security and privacy. So the app has received a massive welcome after the recent privacy policy changes of WhatsApp. And it is available for Android, iOS, and Desktops.

Along with the end-to-end encryption for messages and calls, Signal has several other features for users. For example, you can even use it as your default SMS app. It means you can use Signal to send text messages to anyone, even if they aren’t using Signal.

Here’s how to use Signal to send and receive SMS and MMS on an Android phone. First, you need to make Signal your default messaging app on your phone.

Contents

1 Steps to Set Signal as Default Messaging App on Android
- 1.1 Fix for Not Receiving Text Messages on Signal SMS App

Steps to Set Signal as Default Messaging App on Android

1. Open Signal app on your Android phone, tap on the three vertical dots menu, and select ‘Settings’.
2. In the Settings, choose the ‘SMS and MMS’ option and tap on the ‘SMS Disabled’ option.
3. Choose Signal from the list of SMS apps, and tap on ‘Set as Default’. Also, grant any permission it asks.
4. If you want to get an SMS delivery report, turn on the ‘SMS delivery’ reports option.

You are ready to use Signal to send and receive SMS and MMS on your phone. It can even import your old messages from your old text messaging app. Also, you can block any spam sender from its settings. And, you can set different background color for each contact’s conversation window.

Customize background color of SAM window on Signal

So, this was how to make Signal your default messaging app for your Android phone. But, keep in mind that the end-to-end encryption won’t work when you send SMS to non-signal users.

Fix for Not Receiving Text Messages on Signal SMS App

Some users are complaining that they aren’t receiving text messages from some contacts after making Signal their default SMS app. It seems that the issue is because of RCS messaging/Chat features turned on for those contacts. To fix this, open your previous messaging app and turn off RCS or Chat features.

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