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Chrome vs Messages

Privacy compared: the newest public version of each, scored by the same six rules. Messages scores 65 and Chrome 63, so Messages is 2 points ahead.

63of 100
Chromecom.android.chrome

version 154.0.8037.126

65of 100
Messagescom.google.android.apps.messaging

version messages.android_20261005_05_RC00.phone_dynamic ahead by 2

Who is ahead on what

The longer bar is the better one on every axis; a score is the mean of its six axes. The arithmetic behind each is on the app's own card.

The six axes

Each axis is one short rule applied to both apps, with the one thing that decided its number underneath.

Security Messages +30
Chrome 40 2 security problems found.
Messages 70 1 security problem found.
Tracking level
Chrome 100 No tracking tools found; that does not prove there are none.
Messages 100 No tracking tools found; that does not prove there are none.
Build hygiene Messages +9
Chrome 62 The app passes 8 of 13 checks of how well it was built.
Messages 71 The app passes 10 of 14 checks of how well it was built.
Packaging Chrome +1
Chrome 100 The phone can use everything in the app.
Messages 99 Unpacked, the base APK is 95 MB; 492 KB of it is unused files.
Access Chrome +39
Chrome 40 Asks for 6 of 11 kinds of permission; no special access.
Messages 1 Asks for 8 of 11 kinds of permission; no special access. It is 1 point below the bottom of the scale, so the total loses 0.2 more.
Background Messages +14
Chrome 34 Runs 5 kinds of background service and starts by itself after a restart.
Messages 48 Runs 3 kinds of background service and starts by itself after a restart.

TrackersChrome 0 · Messages 0

The advertising, analytics and attribution SDKs recognised in each app. What only one of them carries is what sets it apart.

Only in Chrome
none
In both
none
Only in Messages
none

Dangerous permissionsChrome 7 · Messages 13

The permissions Android asks the user about at run time: the camera, the microphone, the location, the contacts and the like. An app may need one for what it does; asking is not the same as using.

Only in Chrome
none
In both
ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATIONACCESS_FINE_LOCATIONCAMERAREAD_CONTACTSREAD_EXTERNAL_STORAGERECORD_AUDIOWRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE
Only in Messages
READ_PHONE_NUMBERSREAD_PHONE_STATEREAD_SMSRECEIVE_SMSSEND_SMSWRITE_CONTACTS

Where this comes from

Both are the apps' public cards: what anyone may know of an app, from its newest public version - one Google Play installed, and out in the world. Each card has the score's lines and the earlier versions: Chrome, Messages.