There is a metadata protocol called opengraph, it’s how apps get the information to display a rich preview. Basically the app takes the link as it’s written in the SMS message or Twitter thread and then it tries to fetch that page and then read the open graph metadata from inside. That should give it enough to show a title description and a background image, considering the web developers implemented opengraph.

If Google is planning to use their own servers basically as a proxy then all this means is that the opengraph rich metadata is going to be a little more stale than if the app just fetch the page and generated the rich metadata itself

If you go to the complaints section, it’s a form that sends a letter to your local state representative

Exactly that, if I change a pixel then the cryptographic signature breaks

The NFTs tried to solve this problem already and it didn’t work. You can change the hash/sig of a video file by just changing one pixel on one frame, meaning you just tricked the computer, not the people who use it.

Why are these apps being distributed on app stores

Why are these apps not PWAs with an app store deployment wrapper???