Ask HN: How do you manage your SMS messages?

by mmsimanga on 1/21/2022, 3:38 PM with 7 comments

I get many SMS messages on a typical day. I get a message when I swipe my bank card, a one time password every time I login for certain services along with birthday messages and other marketing material. This is just to name a few. Alot of these messages have some pretty sensitive information. I don't have the discipline to delete all these messages but I am wondering if anyone has automated their SMS messages. I am on an android phone and use the stock standard Messages app.

  • by abider on 1/21/2022, 3:59 PM

    I think it would greatly help to better understand what it is you are looking to manage here (or what your concerns are). Is there really perennially sensitive information your SMS messages? In my experience, most of them are ephemeral in utility (e.g. an OTP or a reminder).

    So two immediate questions arise:

    1. Do you have a perceived sense of risk/vulnerability to not deleting SMS messages? Why?

    2. Assuming there's something more to cover other than #1, what is the problem you are actually trying to solve here?

  • by aladac on 1/21/2022, 4:15 PM

    On the subject of sensitive info:

    Google supposedly implemented an auto delete feature for OTP messages within 24h in their own Messages app. I couldn't find it on my dated Moto G7 though (Android 10).

    I any app I tend to favourite/pin my most frequent contacts and sources of messages and usually manually bulk delete the rest.

    Funny story is that SMS do have a standard for sensitive info (Class 0 - not stored on the device) but I haven't seen that being used since the time of bulletproof Nokias :)

  • by tommydoesntknow on 1/21/2022, 5:47 PM

    I don't. I read them, act on them, then delete them. If I think I might need it later, I take a screenshot. How often do I miss deleting SMS messages? Maybe once or twice in 30 years. That SMS came from somewhere, so if it's really important, I can go to the source.

    I use email the same basic way, pruning almost every message weekly on Sunday.

    Sunday is also Stop Subscription Sunday, like Taco Tuesday, but for software and app rent-seekers.

  • by kleer001 on 1/21/2022, 5:28 PM

    The messaging app Signal has disappearing messages. This might be what you want.

    https://support.signal.org/hc/en-us/articles/360007320771-Se...

  • by leros on 1/21/2022, 4:18 PM

    On Android I use an app called Buzzkill to automatically hide or dismiss certain alerts. I've got most of my routine SMS messages setup to be ignored.

  • by skydhash on 1/21/2022, 3:56 PM

    I only receive two types of messages: OTP and ads from the provider. I just set the message app to automatically delete everything after 30 days.