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Messages vs Contacts

Privacy compared: the newest public version of each, scored by the same six rules. Contacts scores 84 and Messages 65, so Contacts is 19 points ahead.

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

version messages.android_20261005_05_RC00.phone_dynamic

84of 100
Contactscom.google.android.contacts

version 4.88.28.981523105 ahead by 19

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 Contacts +30
Messages 70 1 security problem found.
Contacts 100 No security problem found.
Tracking level
Messages 100 No tracking tools found; that does not prove there are none.
Contacts 100 No tracking tools found; that does not prove there are none.
Build hygiene Contacts +8
Messages 71 The app passes 10 of 14 checks of how well it was built.
Contacts 79 The app passes 11 of 14 checks of how well it was built.
Packaging Contacts +1
Messages 99 Unpacked, the base APK is 95 MB; 492 KB of it is unused files.
Contacts 100 The phone can use everything in the app.
Access Contacts +49
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.
Contacts 50 Asks for 4 of 11 kinds of permission; no special access.
Background Contacts +26
Messages 48 Runs 3 kinds of background service and starts by itself after a restart.
Contacts 74 Runs 1 kind of background service and starts by itself after a restart.

TrackersMessages 0 · Contacts 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 Contacts
none

Dangerous permissionsMessages 13 · Contacts 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_LOCATIONCAMERAREAD_EXTERNAL_STORAGERECEIVE_SMSRECORD_AUDIOSEND_SMSWRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE
In both
READ_CONTACTSREAD_PHONE_NUMBERSREAD_PHONE_STATEREAD_SMSWRITE_CONTACTS
Only in Contacts
READ_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, Contacts.