Messenger vs Messages

Privacy compared: the newest public version of each, scored by the same six rules. Messages scores 65 and Messenger 42, so Messages is 23 points ahead.

42of 100

Messengercom.facebook.orca

version 579.0.0.61.91

65of 100

Messagescom.google.android.apps.messaging

version messages.android_20261005_05_RC00.phone_dynamic ahead by 23

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.

Axes: Messages leads on 3 axes, Messenger on 1 axis; 2 axes are level.
Trackers: Messenger carries 6 trackers, Messages none; fewer is better.
Dangerous permissions: Messenger may ask for 10 permissions, Messages for 13 permissions.

The six axes

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

Security level

Messenger 70 1 security problem found.

Messages 70 1 security problem found.

Tracking Messages +77

Messenger 23 6 tracking tools found.

Messages 100 No tracking tools found; that does not prove there are none.

Build hygiene Messages +9

Messenger 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 Messenger +1

Messenger 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 level

Messenger 1 Asks for 8 of 11 kinds of permission; 2 kinds of special access. It is 1 point below the bottom of the scale, so the total loses 0.2 more.

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 +47

Messenger 1 Runs 7 kinds of background service and starts by itself after a restart. It is 3 points below the bottom of the scale, so the total loses 0.5 more.

Messages 48 Runs 3 kinds of background service and starts by itself after a restart.

TrackersMessenger 6 · 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 Messenger

Facebook AdsFacebook FlipperFacebook NotificationsFacebook ShareGoogle AdMobGoogle Analytics

In both

none

Only in Messages

none

Dangerous permissionsMessenger 10 · 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 Messenger

none

In both

ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATIONACCESS_FINE_LOCATIONCAMERAREAD_CONTACTSREAD_EXTERNAL_STORAGEREAD_PHONE_NUMBERSREAD_PHONE_STATERECORD_AUDIOWRITE_CONTACTSWRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE

Only in Messages

READ_SMSRECEIVE_SMSSEND_SMS

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: Messenger, Messages.