“My personal text was randomly resent to a group chat and the first 2 contacts in my phone! it is a known glitch in Google Messages. Fix this dangerous privacy issue!”
Independent automated assessment · 6 signal sources · 4,001 reviews scanned · analyzed 2026-10-04.
4.6 ★49,841,137 ratings
10B+Downloads
4+Age rating
—App size
FreeIn-app purchases
About this app
Google Messages is the official Google app for messaging. Google Messages is revolutionizing how a billion users connect and is powered by Rich Communication Services (RCS), the industry standard for texting that replaces SMS and MMS. With RCS, you can share high resolution photos and videos, enjoy dynamic group chats, and seamlessly connect with other RCS users including your iPhone friends.
• Rich Communication: Share high-quality photos and videos, see when friends are typing, and enjoy dynamic group chats that now seamlessly include your iPhone friends. • Personal Touch: Make conversations uniquely yours with features like custom chat bubble colors or fun selfie gifs.…
Preview
Real screenshots from the store listing.
Independent evidence report
Evidence and review signals
This is where the page changes from an app-store listing into an evidence report: findings, important reviews, pricing and a dated history.
Which version this describes
When we ran this analysis, and what the store lists now.
This analysis describes version messages.android_20260917_03_RC00.phone_dynamic of the app (the version number recorded inside the package we inspected), analyzed 2026-10-04 . The app may have changed since.
The store currently lists version VARY, updated 2026-10-01.
What we measured
Each line is a measurement published as a measurement, never a verdict.
Each line is a measurement, published as a measurement. Where we have not looked, the line says so rather than reading as a zero.
Developer replies to reviews
Replies to at least 1 review in 20
Price in the store description
States no price and billing period
Cancelling, in the store description
Does not say how to cancel
Themes reported by reviewers
2 themes reported
Counted from the reviews we have read for this app. "No theme reported" means no theme reached our reporting threshold — it is not a finding that nothing is wrong with this app, and we do not say it is.
Five-star share of ratings
65–79% five-star
Arithmetic on the stores' own published rating counts. It says nothing about why the ratings fall where they do.
In the package we scanned
From the package we downloaded and read — version messages.android_20260917_03_RC00.phone_dynamic, scanned 2026-09-28.
Permissions Android classifies as dangerous
6 or more requested
Counted against the eighteen permissions listed in collect-package.ts. A dangerous permission is one Android asks the user to grant; requesting one is not itself a finding.
Analytics or tracking SDKs in the scanned package
None found
Advertising SDKs in the scanned package
None found
Counted as distinct SDKs in the package we scanned. One mediation bundle can contribute several, so this is not a count of advertisers.
Graded bands · predicate set 1.4 · how these are measured
What the analysis found
App-specific findings, grouped by what each one rests on. How they are graded lives on its own page.
Positive evidence 1
Things this app does right, published at the same strengths as the catch list.
Developer says data deletion can be requested
The developer's data-safety disclosure on the store states that users can request deletion of their data, or the app's own text offers a way to delete the account. This restates what the developer declares; it is not a test of whether deletion works. Apple publishes no equivalent disclosure, so on an Apple-only listing only the app's own text can support it.
What we saw: The developer's store data-safety disclosure states that data deletion can be requested; we have not seen a deletion control in the app's own text
One source only — shown, not confirmed 2
A single kind of evidence. We publish these because withholding them would be the bigger distortion, and we do not treat any of them as a finding we stand behind.
Reported by users: Tracking and data collection concerns
The app ships session-recording or a wide tracking stack, holds permissions that read personal data, or is reported by users to sell, leak or over-collect it. The evidence line says which of those was observed.
What we saw: Data & privacy concerns: raised by 6 distinct reviewers (0.1% of 4001 reviews scanned)
Reported by users: Aggressive ad load
Advertising volume or placement that interrupts normal use: ads between every action, unskippable or forced full-screen ads.
What we saw: Aggressive ad load: raised by 6 distinct reviewers (0.1% of 4001 reviews scanned)
Highlighted reviews
Representative public review excerpts shown as user reports, not Appworthy audit evidence.
Assessment & version history
App changes and Appworthy events in one timeline.
Store listing updated to version VARY.
What this app sells
Useful store-disclosed pricing, kept below the app listing.
Business modelFree
Prices and terms as disclosed by the store listing.