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Messages vs Carrier Services

Privacy compared: the newest public version of each, scored by the same six rules. Carrier Services scores 80 and Messages 65, so Carrier Services is 15 points ahead.

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

version messages.android_20261005_05_RC00.phone_dynamic

80of 100
Carrier Servicescom.google.android.ims

version carrierservices.android_20250826_00_RC00.phone ahead by 15

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 level
Messages 70 1 security problem found.
Carrier Services 70 1 security problem found.
Tracking level
Messages 100 No tracking tools found; that does not prove there are none.
Carrier Services 100 No tracking tools found; that does not prove there are none.
Build hygiene Carrier Services +12
Messages 71 The app passes 10 of 14 checks of how well it was built.
Carrier Services 83 The app passes 10 of 12 checks of how well it was built.
Packaging Carrier Services +1
Messages 99 Unpacked, the base APK is 95 MB; 492 KB of it is unused files.
Carrier Services 100 The phone can use everything in the app.
Access Carrier Services +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.
Carrier Services 40 Asks for 6 of 11 kinds of permission; no special access.
Background Carrier Services +36
Messages 48 Runs 3 kinds of background service and starts by itself after a restart.
Carrier Services 84 Runs no background service, but starts by itself after a restart.

TrackersMessages 0 · Carrier Services 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 Carrier Services
none

Dangerous permissionsMessages 13 · Carrier Services 8

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
READ_PHONE_NUMBERSREAD_PHONE_STATEREAD_SMSRECEIVE_SMSSEND_SMSWRITE_CONTACTSWRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE
In both
ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATIONACCESS_FINE_LOCATIONCAMERAREAD_CONTACTSREAD_EXTERNAL_STORAGERECORD_AUDIO
Only in Carrier Services
READ_CALL_LOGWRITE_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, Carrier Services.