As an update to a previously published article on Messenger for SMS possibly violating Google Play’s app policies, Facebook recently released a statement regarding the controversy surrounding their push for SMS integration. In the issued statement, Facebook maintains that its methods remain fair, as users can opt to reject the SMS integration through the ‘Settings’ tab, and the OS itself will show a permissions request to inform the user that the app will change significantly. However, this still does not address the problem with the Messenger for SMS prompt not giving a clear, concrete ‘No’ or ‘Skip’ option in order to inform the end-users that the change is mandatory. Read the full statement below:
“SMS in Messenger is an optional feature. People can choose whether or not they wish to use it. When they first see the prompt, they can choose to start seeing their SMS messages in Messenger by turning on the feature, or they can decide not to by tapping “Settings.” If they decide to see SMS messages in Messenger and to also reply to messages from Messenger, we’ll ask people to approve any new device permissions that are required. Messenger doesn’t modify any device settings without people agreeing to it.”