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How to retrieve deleted texts on your Samsung phone thumbnail
How to retrieve deleted texts on your Samsung phone

Lost your texts? Here are a few tips to bring back your messages

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Social media and instant messaging apps help us connect with our loved ones in various ways. From making plans to sharing important information to sending quick replies, texting is many people's main form of communication.

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Closeup of a phone showing RCS chats settings on its screen
How to enable, disable, and use RCS Chat in Google Messages

It's probably time we moved on from the old SMS standard

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The RCS messaging protocol has been a long time coming. While iPhone owners have had iMessages for years, Android users often relied on third-party messaging apps like WhatsApp, as US carriers were slow to warm up to RCS. Google has been leading the push for RCS in recent years, and Messages' adoption of the RCS standard has made the app better and brought interactive texting to Android.

Google Messages featured header
How to retrieve deleted text messages on Android

Recovering your deleted text messages is tricky on Android

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Did you accidentally delete important messages and thought you'd lost them forever? There are a few ways to get such messages back. The chances of retrieval depend on certain factors, like how often you back up your data, how recently you deleted it, and the messaging app you use.

An iPhone and an Android foldable next to each other, with SMS chat between the two shown on their screens
What is SMS?

Everything you wanted to know about SMS, and then some

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The cell phone wasn't quite 10 years old in December 1992. The switch from analog 1G networks to the advanced digital 2G networks occurred the previous year. Sony's revolutionary light-weight, rechargeable lithium-ion battery was primed to change the mobile technology landscape. In Britain, the world's first SMS text message was sent between two engineers, unaware of how it would change the world or of the amazing 5G Android phones that you would one day be able to send them on.

Using voice typing on a Pixel phone in the Google Messages app
How to print text messages from your Android phone or tablet

Get a physical copy of your messages in no time at all

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Messaging is one of the most used forms of communication in the world. In the US, texting through your carrier is the most used form of messaging. Since texting is used for so much communication, you may need to print some text messages from a pleasant conversation you want to remember or if you need to use text messages as evidence in a court case. There isn't a built-in feature to print text messages on your affordable Android phone, but you can use a workaround to print images of your texts.

A Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus laying on a tapestry
7 Samsung Messages tips and tricks you need to know

A handful of ways to text better on your Galaxy phone

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Most Samsung smartphones have their exclusive messaging app preinstalled alongside Google Messages. Select models like the Galaxy S24 and S22 series stand apart from their siblings as Google's app is set as the default texting app.

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How to know if someone read your text messages on Android thumbnail
How to know if someone read your text messages on Android

You should know if someone is lying through their teeth about missing your text

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WhatsApp, Telegram, Messenger, and Google Messages are some of the best communication apps that let you see if someone reads your text. When your friends, family, or coworkers make excuses about missing your messages, use the following tips to find out whether your message was seen.

Illustration of a girl texting with the Android mascot to her right.
How to back up your old Android text messages

Free yourself from old texts

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Before you reset your phone or switch to one of the best 5G smartphones, back up your data. Also, back up your SMS to retain important texts for later reference. Backing up text messages is a breeze whether you use a Samsung Galaxy, a Google Pixel, or another device. You can opt for automatic backup by Google or do it manually using various third-party apps.

A hand holding up a Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra in a family room.
How to block spam texts from an email account

Block those messages promising a $1 million jackpot

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Scammers have become more sophisticated over the years. Instead of sending spam text messages, they contact you over text messages sent from an email address. Spam detection on the best foldables and Android phones has come a long way, but such messages can slip through their filters.

Male traveler using his phone by the sea.
How to turn off SMS voicemail transcriptions on your iPhone

Getting annoying texts from your voicemails? Here's how to turn that feature off

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Some phone service providers, notably T-Mobile and Verizon, offer a service that sends voicemails as texts. You may get a message that says a voicemail was deposited as a text and then a text message with the voicemail transcription. This transcription is handy when your visual voicemail doesn't work or if you don't have this service.

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How to like a text message on your Android phone video thumbnail
How to like a text message on your Android phone

Like a text message on Android and send message reactions!

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Do you receive messages from a friend with an iPhone that say they "liked" your message? Instead of this reaction appearing as a thumbs up as it does on an iPhone, it appears as text. The top end-to-end encrypted messaging apps let you give and receive reactions like iMessage. Reacting to messages on Android text messaging requires activating RCS messaging. Short for Rich Chatting Service (RCS), RCS improves traditional SMS/MMS messaging with features like read receipts, typing indicators, and message reactions.

A person in a plaid shirt and khakis holds a phone in their left hand while their right index finger taps the screen.
How to report phishing text messages

Spam is extremely annoying, but you can help slow them down

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There are a lot of scams online, and it's becoming increasingly difficult to dodge scammers who target you via phishing texts, emails, fake ads, and spam calls. To make matters worse, tricksters use bots and advanced algorithms to make you fall into their traps. An average smartphone user receives numerous spam and phishing messages daily.

Hand holding pixel 8 with keyboard app open.
What is a phishing text message?

Don't get scammed through texting

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The internet is filled with scams. Fake ads, phishing emails, spam calls, and text messages are some of the ways you can lose your data and money. Nowadays, many scams are created by bots powered by advanced algorithms. Phishing texts are another type of scam, and they're growing in popularity. You can still be vulnerable even if you use one of our favorite Android phones. Let's look at what these so-called "phishing texts" are and how you can protect yourself against them.

The Galaxy S21 Ultra in someone's hand
Why text message videos are blurry, and how to fix the problem

Media sent between iPhones looks pristine, but Android phones don't get the same treatment

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Even if you figure out the secret behind taking a fantastic photo with your Android phone, think twice before you send it to a friend. If you send it via a text message, they may receive a blurry image instead of the crystal-clear picture you took. Due to a few factors, media attachments like photos and videos can lose quality when sent over text messages, depending on the receiver and their phone.

2FA log in hero image
How to automatically delete 2FA texts from Android

OTPs be gone! Make your 2FA texts vanish without tapping any buttons

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Two-factor authentication (2FA) messages block unauthorized access to your accounts. If you activated 2FA, you can choose to receive a one-time password (OTP) on the associated mobile number. It's valid for a few seconds or minutes and verifies your identity. Although they have a temporary use, attackers may intercept OTPs with phishing attempts and enter your account. So you should delete them after use.

The Device Pulse feature displayed on a phone screen
What is Device Pulse on TracFone?

Device Pulse isn't spyware, but the amount of data collected by the app can distress you

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Device Pulse is an instant messaging app that comes pre-installed on all TracFone smartphones. Unlike Samsung Messages and the other default message apps on top-budget Android phones, Device Pulse isn't limited to sending or receiving messages over the carrier. It shows all your device details, including the IMEI number, SIM ID, phone number, battery health, storage, and more.

An SMS conversation in Android Message displayed on a phone screen
How to change the color of text bubbles on Android

Maybe a yellow bubble would suffice

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Texting on Android has improved over the years thanks to various security and interactive features brought through RCS chat. Now, your messages are end-to-end encrypted, and you can share high-quality media files, see typing indicators, and react to messages without a third-party app. But what good is it if the text isn't readable or the bubbles look bland? Whether you want to make conversations pop or improve readability on your pocket-friendly Android phone, this guide focuses on how to change the color of the text bubbles on Android.

Illustration of a girl texting with the Android mascot to her right.
How to block text messages on Android

Do away with those troublesome texts you'd rather not see

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Between corporate spam and unwelcome messages from who-knows-where, having a conversational off switch in your digital tool kit is a good idea. Malicious texts can contain threats to digital safety and security. As a result, many are beginning to search for ways to deal with excessive spam.

Google Voice won't forward text messages to outside numbers much longer

Call forwarding isn't affected, at least for now

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The slow, painful stagnation of Google's call forwarding service continues. An update to the support text for Google Voice says that soon SMS forwarding for Google Voice will no longer operate. That will leave the Google Voice app, on your phone or the web, as the only place that they're visible. Google says that carriers are beginning to block these messages, which is, indeed, something we've observed over the last few weeks.

Samsung SMS Messaging app for Windows spotted in the Microsoft Store

It's in a closed test for now, and might be limited to Samsung-branded laptops

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There are a bunch of ways to access text messages from a desktop, including solutions from Google and Microsoft. And you know Samsung: once lots of other companies do something, it just has to have its own proprietary solution, too. Now we're getting early signs of a Samsung Messaging app hanging out in the Microsoft Store, which describes itself as a way to send and receive texts from your phone in Windows.

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