Wade, Signal represents most people’s best way to communicate safely. Whether it’s to protect sensitive conversations amid social unrest or to keep your communications private after the fall of Roe v. While satellite text messaging remains a relatively niche feature right now, It'll be interesting to see how both Apple and Samsung respond.In times of uncertainty, people rightly often turn to the encrypted messaging app Signal. Bullitt Satellite Messenger gives us a ballpark figure, though: $4.99/£4.99 per month (around AU$9) for the ability to send 30 two-way messages, plus access to its SOS assistance service.īoth Qualcomm and Bullitt's services are more versatile than Apple's Emergency SOS, and we're expecting to see the first Snapdragon Satellite Android phones land later this year.

But what we don't yet know is how much Snapdragon Satellite will cost. Qualcomm's service will also integrate with an Android phone's SMS text messaging, rather than requiring a separate app. While Qualcomm is promising that Snapdragon Satellite will 'offer truly global coverage from pole to pole' (as long as you can see the open sky), Bullitt's satellite coverage is a bit more limited. It also announced the Defy Satellite Link (pictured above), a Bluetooth fob that delivers the service to older Android phones and iPhones, too.īut while Qualcomm and Bullitt's satellite messaging services broadly promise the same service – two-way messaging in remote areas – they're based on different networks and work in different ways. Motorola had already stolen Qualcomm's thunder last week by announcing the Motorola Defy 2, a rugged Android phone that delivers two-way satellite messaging using a different service called Bullitt Satellite Messenger. And this Qualcomm announcement shows it'll be one of the big features in your next Android phone – even if Samsung appears to be taking its own route.

Satellite messaging has become one of the hottest themes of this week's MWC 2023 show (which you can follow in our MWC 2023 live blog).

Signal messaging