It's well-known that Google has a habit of hiding certain "secret" features in its Android OS. However, there's one strange feature in Android that honestly seems more like a bug than a hidden feature.
The bug shows your messages in search results when you use the Google assistant's cards feature. A Reddit about it states that if you type "the1975..com" into the Google search bar, all your messages will appear on the screen.
Soon, other users also participated in the comments and said that the same bug can also occur if you type “vizela viagens” or “zela viagens” in the search bar.
Even though the original message refers to a Pixel device, it has been proven that the same occurs on other Android phones, such as OnePlus, if you type “the1975..com” or “zela viagens”.
As you can see in the image above, these terms work exactly like the command “show me my text messages.” Typing these terms into the Google Assistant also has the same effect.
The concerning question concerns users who enable voice commands of Google Assistant in locked mode and whether access to this flaw can be achieved when the phone is locked. If yes, data such as the OTP received via messages are at risk of exposure.
If you try to do the equivalent on iPhone via the search bar, the browser shows the normal search results (which should also appear on Android). But typing these terms into the iPhone Assistant shows the answer “I can’t read text messages yet.”
The company has not made any comment yet, so we cannot be sure whether it is a deliberate action by Google or a bug.
However, if this is a concern for you, you can fix the problem directly by going to Settings>Apps>Apps Permission>SMS permission. There you can disable the SMS permission for the Google app, thus preventing it from accessing your messages.
