# Saying goodbye to encrypted SMS/MMS

DevFeed: [Saying goodbye to encrypted SMS/MMS](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/saying-goodbye-to-encrypted-sms-mms-1765.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://signal.org/blog/goodbye-encrypted-sms/>)

Published: 2015-03-06T00:00:00Z

Content type: article

Language: en

Sources: [Signal Blog](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/signal-blog.md>)

Topics: [Messaging](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/messaging.md>), [Security](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/security.md>), [Protocol (disambiguation)](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/protocol.md>), [iOS](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/ios.md>), [iphone](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/iphone.md>), [servers](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/servers.md>), [P2P](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/p2p.md>)

Tags: [ios](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/ios.md>), [iphone](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/iphone.md>), [messaging](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/messaging.md>), [messenger](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/messenger.md>), [offline](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/offline.md>), [protocol](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/protocol.md>), [security](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/security.md>), [servers](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/servers.md>)

## AI overview

The article announces that TextSecure is phasing out encrypted SMS/MMS in favor of its data-based TextSecure transport. It cites the friction of manual key exchange, session problems after uninstallations or reinstalls, limited iOS SMS APIs, metadata exposure through cellular carriers, and the engineering burden of supporting SMS/MMS edge cases.

## Source excerpt

It's 2015, and the end of the road for encrypted SMS/MMS in TextSecure. The TextSecure story started back in 2009, at the dawn of the smartphone era. Back then, TextSecure focused on securing the transport that everyone coming from feature phones was familiar with: SMS. Today, many things have changed, and TextSecure now emphasizes the "TextSecure transport," which uses data rather than SMS. While we remain committed to supporting plaintext SMS/MMS in addition to the encrypted TextSecure transport so that the app can function as a unified messenger, we are beginning the process of phasing out support for SMS/MMS as an encrypted transport in favor of the TextSecure data protocol. Read more...