Android's stock texting app now includes anti-spam safeguards

Your Android phone's text messages could soon be relatively junk-free without needing help from carriers. Android Police has learned that Google is rolling out spam protection to the Messages app for at least some users. It's not clear just what the feature looks for, but Google is clearly aware of the potential privacy issues. While the company does have to transmit some message-related data to Google, it doesn't send any of the content itself.

If you see the feature, you'll get a notification when you launch Messages. And yes, you can turn it off -- you can dive into the Advanced section of settings to switch it off. This tool won't help much if you prefer to use your phone maker's custom SMS app or a third-party alternative. However, it could give you a reason to consider Messages if you'd previously written it off.