Messages vs Meet

Privacy compared: the newest public version of each, scored by the same six rules. Meet scores 67 and Messages 65, so Meet is 2 points ahead.

65of 100

Messagescom.google.android.apps.messaging

version messages.android_20261005_05_RC00.phone_dynamic

67of 100

Meetcom.google.android.apps.tachyon

version 380.0.998174106.duo.android_20261005.01_p3 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.

Axes: Meet leads on 2 axes, Messages on 1 axis; 3 axes are level.
Trackers: Messages carries none, Meet none.
Dangerous permissions: Messages may ask for 13 permissions, Meet for 6 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

Messages 70 1 security problem found.

Meet 70 1 security problem found.

Tracking level

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

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

Build hygiene Meet +6

Messages 71 The app passes 10 of 14 checks of how well it was built.

Meet 77 The app passes 10 of 13 checks of how well it was built.

Packaging level

Messages 99 Unpacked, the base APK is 95 MB; 492 KB of it is unused files.

Meet 99 Unpacked, the base APK is 48 MB; 250 KB of it is unused files.

Access Meet +39

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.

Meet 40 Asks for 6 of 11 kinds of permission; no special access.

Background Messages +30

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

Meet 18 Runs 6 kinds of background service and starts by itself after a restart.

TrackersMessages 0 · Meet 0

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

Only in Messages

none

In both

none

Only in Meet

none

Dangerous permissionsMessages 13 · Meet 6

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 Messages

ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATIONACCESS_FINE_LOCATIONREAD_EXTERNAL_STORAGEREAD_PHONE_NUMBERSREAD_SMSRECEIVE_SMSSEND_SMSWRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE

In both

CAMERAREAD_CONTACTSREAD_PHONE_STATERECORD_AUDIOWRITE_CONTACTS

Only in Meet

WRITE_CALL_LOG

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: Messages, Meet.