Android text messenger advice request!
we've all been getting notifications about how the built-in text messenger is going away on Android, so I'm looking for something to replace it that is:
1) free
2) open-source or otherwise safe, private, and secure
3) ad-free
4) able to use my existing contacts and, optimally, import my existing text messages. so SMS-capable, I guess
5) not part of Google, Meta, or any of the other enshittified techbro corporations' ecosystems
6) clean from "AI"
I don't care about bells and whistles, I just need a text messenger that does the things Samsung's built-in messenger does (texts, photos, group messages, and such)
I downloaded Signal, but it turns out you can't use that for texting unless your contacts are also on Signal. not useful. also it doesn't import existing texts or contacts on my phone. even less useful. deleted. at least it's secure and open-source
any advice is appreciated!
(also to hell with Samsung for forcing this nonsense. no way will I use their automatic replacement, Google)
