38 PCWorld FEBRUARY 2020
NEWS
IMAGE: JUSTIN TAANNIX/PIXABAY
Google makes it safer to text on
Android phones, but end-to-end
encryption is still MIA
Verified SMS and spam protection rolling out now. BY MICHAEL SIMON
A
s part of its year-end push to
bring Android Messages up to
speed, Google has rolled out
two new features: Verified SMS
and spam protection (go.pcworld.com/
vsms). Together, they help make sure your
conversations aren’t taken over by people you
don’t want to talk to.
Like the phone app, Google won’t
automatically filter out suspected spam
messages, but it will warn you when it
suspects one has arrived. You’ll be able to