Looks like Google is making some huge changes to text messaging in KitKat. I’m still hoping that they will be integrating it into Hangouts. Which is what most of us have wanted since Google I/O in May. Basically, the Android Developers blog is showing off how you can now make an application the default for sending and receiving SMS and MMS. Instead of using the old way, which basically meant disabling the Messaging app that comes on your phone.The old way works, but it’s not the best way to have it done.
This is great news for developers, especially those that make SMS apps like Sliding Messenger. But what exactly does that mean for the rest of us? Well basically it means you’ll have a choice as to whether the Hangouts App will be your default SMS/MMS app without having to get rid of the app entirely. So if you want to use Sliding Messenger for your texts and Hangouts for the rest of your Google-based messaging you can. It’s a great idea.
Now there could be other reasons why Google is doing this. And what I’m hoping for is they are merging the entire Google Voice app into Hangouts. Which is something I’ve been looking forward to for a long time. Since my main number is in Google Voice, it’s definitely something I want to see not hit the Spring cleaning list like Google Reader did earlier this year. Of course this could also be because Google really likes using Handcent or Sliding Messenger. Who knows right now. We are still waiting on official KitKat news from Google which could come any day now.
This is a pretty interesting turn of events. And this isn’t a rumor, since it was posted by the official Android Developers blog. So it’ll be interesting to see what else they have in store for us.