Clear SMS: Privacy-First SMS Organizer

Clear SMS is a privacy-first SMS management app by Prakash that automatically organizes your inbox and extracts financial insights, all offline on your device. It combines a smart inbox with a finance dashboard and bill reminders, making it a practical tool for anyone who wants to keep their messages tidy and their finances in view without sending data to the cloud. The app is open-source and built on a transparent rules engine, so every categorization decision is based on human-readable JSON rules rather than a machine-learning black box.

Beyond sorting messages, Clear SMS doubles as a finance manager. It reads debit and credit transactions from bank SMS and compiles them into accounts, credit cards, and spend summaries, complete with simple charts. You can also track balances with an optional biometric lock, and the Alerts view gathers upcoming bills, autopay dates, insurance, and credit-card due dates in one place. For travel and packages, the app identifies train and flight journeys and courier deliveries with tracking IDs.

Version 0.23.0, released on October 14, 2026, continues this focus on utility and privacy. While the update notes don't detail specific changes, the app's core promise remains: no INTERNET permission, no telemetry, and no trackers. All processing happens locally, and the only network activity is the Android system's own MMS transaction with your carrier, which is inherent to how MMS works. This makes Clear SMS a strong choice for users who prioritize data control.

Key features

• Smart inbox with categories: Important, Promotional, Personal, OTP, and Unknown, using regex-based rules that you can inspect and edit
• Finance dashboard that extracts debit/credit transactions from bank SMS into accounts, credit cards, and spend summaries with charts
• Balance tracking with optional biometric lock for added security
• Alerts view for upcoming bills, autopay, insurance, and credit-card due dates
• Full SMS and MMS send/receive, including dual-SIM support, message scheduling, drafts, delivery reports, and pinned conversations
• OTP handling with large copyable notifications, optional auto-copy, and configurable auto-delete
• Recycle bin with 30-day retention, undo for delete and archive, and blocking of senders and keywords
• No INTERNET permission, no Firebase, no Play Services – pure AOSP compatible
• Local backup and restore for messages and settings; data never leaves your device
• Material You dynamic color on Android 12+, with light/dark/system themes

How to install

1. Tap the download button on this page to get the APK file (21 MB).
2. When Android asks, allow your browser or file manager to install apps by enabling the 'Install unknown apps' setting for that app.
3. Open the downloaded APK file from your notifications or file manager.
4. Tap Install on the confirmation screen and wait for the installation to finish.
5. Open Clear SMS from your app drawer. The app requires Android 6.0 or higher.

Clear SMS is ideal for privacy-conscious users who want a capable SMS app without data collection, people who regularly receive bank and bill messages and want automated financial insights, and those who prefer open-source software with transparent, customizable behavior.

To get the most from the finance dashboard, ensure your bank SMS messages are in a consistent format and regularly review the categorization rules to keep them accurate for your specific banks.

Clear SMS offers a rare combination of full-featured messaging and privacy, with a finance twist that adds real value. Its lack of internet permission and transparent rules are strong draws, though the regex-based system may require some tweaking to fit your needs. Overall, it's a solid, trustworthy choice for anyone who wants to keep SMS organized and finances in check without compromising on data control.