Samsung's Messages App Is Shutting Down (androidcentral.com) 81
Samsung says it will discontinue its Samsung Messages app in July 2026 and is directing Galaxy users to switch to Google Messages instead. Android Central reports: [...] Samsung says users can switch to Google Messages as their default app to maintain a consistent Android messaging experience. The fine print also states that once the app is discontinued, "sending messages via Samsung Messages on your phone will no longer be possible, except for emergency service numbers or emergency contacts defined in your device."
Samsung also notes that users will no longer be able to download the Messages app from the Galaxy Store once it is discontinued. Newer devices, including the Galaxy S26 series, already do not support installing Samsung Messages. It is, however, worth noting that users on Android 11 or older are not affected by this change and will still be able to use the Samsung Messages app on their devices.
[...] Samsung also warns that on some devices released before 2022, switching apps may temporarily disrupt ongoing RCS conversations. However, chats should resume once both users move to Google Messages. The company also highlights some of the benefits of the switch, including improved security, RCS support, AI features, and better multi-device connectivity.
Samsung also notes that users will no longer be able to download the Messages app from the Galaxy Store once it is discontinued. Newer devices, including the Galaxy S26 series, already do not support installing Samsung Messages. It is, however, worth noting that users on Android 11 or older are not affected by this change and will still be able to use the Samsung Messages app on their devices.
[...] Samsung also warns that on some devices released before 2022, switching apps may temporarily disrupt ongoing RCS conversations. However, chats should resume once both users move to Google Messages. The company also highlights some of the benefits of the switch, including improved security, RCS support, AI features, and better multi-device connectivity.
And nothing of value was lost... (Score:3)
Samsung says users can switch to Google Messages as their default app to maintain a consistent Android messaging experience
Nor was anything gained.
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Except, of course, for ceding control of the RCS standard to Google. Try using a third party client with Google's implementation.
Re:And nothing of value was lost... (Score:4, Insightful)
If a third party client existed then it would work just fine. RCS is an open and clearly defined standard, and even iMessages supports it. Samsung users had no problem receiving or sending RCS, Apple users had no problem receiving RCS, and Google has no "control" over RCS as that standard is managed by the GSMA and it's 750 members much like nearly every other aspect of your phone.
Re:And nothing of value was lost... (Score:4, Insightful)
Well, to be fair, Apple users had problems sending and receiving RCS until Google made a huge stink. But of course that was not a standards issue, it was a marketing issue.
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Google's proprietary extensions focus on features like encryption, and have nothing to do with the difficulties Apple users had sending photos and videos to Android users.
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Google's proprietary extensions focus on features like encryption, and have nothing to do with the difficulties Apple users had sending photos and videos to Android users.
Well that is a bold faced lie. If Google uses a proprietary extensions on Android that is not a standard, why would you expect Apple to use that standard? You are also aware that I send photos and videos to Android users all the time right? The problem is the fallback technology is MMS which is over 20 years old.
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No one expects Apple to use Google's extensions related to encryption. Apple didn't support the *vanilla* RCS standard, making it impossible to share full-resolution photos and videos using RCS.
How about you focus on the facts, instead of pretending you know my motivations.
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No one expects Apple to use Google's extensions related to encryption. Apple didn't support the *vanilla* RCS standard, making it impossible to share full-resolution photos and videos using RCS.
And herein are the lies. 1) Google's calls their protocol "RCS" which they used interchangeably with GSMA RCS (Universal Profile) in all their arguments. 2) While Apple did not adopt Universal Profile, which other carriers and devices supported standard Universal Profile? None of them. They implemented their own incompatible versions of Universal Profile. Why? Because Universal Profile did not have features of iMessage. It was not until Google developed Google RCS that had features like encryption that car
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So, you admit that Apple did not adopt Universal Profile, but you still claim "lies" when I say Apple did not support the RCS standard? Confusing, but OK.
Your rant about encryption is off topic. I never complained about Apple not supporting that.
The reality is, if a phone supports "vanilla" RCS, it should be able to exchange photos and videos properly with other phones. Apple's iMessage is even *more* proprietary than Google's RCS, so sorry, I don't accept that Apple shouldn't have to adopt "Goodle's RCS" b
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So, you admit that Apple did not adopt Universal Profile, but you still claim "lies" when I say Apple did not support the RCS standard? Confusing, but OK.
You like Google use the term "RCS" to mean Universal Profile AND Google RCS to mean the same thing. That is the lie you are spreading. They are not the same thing.
Your rant about encryption is off topic. I never complained about Apple not supporting that.
What is the "rant"? I posted "features like encryption". I suppose in your world that is a rant. The fact of the matter is Universal Profile does not support encryption and other features that iMessage and Google RCS have. You seem not to understand the word "features" or "other".
The reality is, if a phone supports "vanilla" RCS, it should be able to exchange photos and videos properly with other phones.
The default base protocol for that is called MMS. Please look it up
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You just can't let go of your encryption hobby horse, can you! I don't care about the encryption angle. It's off topic. Sure, Apple can have that their way, if they don't support Google's extensions, I'm fine with that, and I don't criticize Apple for that.
No, Apple did *not* have to support a myriad versions of RCS to get photos and videos to properly sync. Just one. Nobody cares about phones that have a 2% market share. Android has 40% or so market share in the US, and more outside the US. It's not too mu
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You just can't let go of your encryption hobby horse,
BAAHHAHAAHHAAHAAAAAA
*gasp*
BAAHHAHAAHHAAHAAAAAA
BAAHHAHAAHHAAHAAAAAA
BAAHHAHAAHHAAHAAAAAA
BAAHHAHAAHHAAHAAAAAA
BAAHHAHAAHHAAHAAAAAA
1) Either really will stoop to that level of dishonesty or you have no idea what Google RCS was all about. E2EE was a defining feature of Google RCS that distinguished it from Universal profile. To call it a "hobby horse" says you either know nothing about this topic or you are willing to lie about the importance of it.
2) Do you understand what OTHER FEATURES means? E2EE was
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Your contention that Google wanted Apple to use its own extensions to RCS don't appear to be founded. https://9to5google.com/2025/03... [9to5google.com]
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Your contention that Google wanted Apple to use its own extensions to RCS don't appear to be founded. https://9to5google.com/2025/03 [9to5google.com]... [9to5google.com]
BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA,
Your lack of reading comprehension is astounding. Let me say this slowly again. 1) How does Apple work with Google RCS extensions WHICH WERE NOT PART OF UNIVERSAL PROFILE 1.0? You have never answered that question. Members of the GSMA: "Fallback to MMS". You: "I don't have any answers but Apple should have done it."
2) How does Apple decrypt E2EE messages in the Signal Protocol. Your article says starting that in Universal Profile 3.0 (released in 2025), "GSMA is officially supporti
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You apparently made up the part about Google extensions. I have not found any evidence that your claim is true.
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You apparently made up the part about Google extensions. I have not found any evidence that your claim is true.
BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA. So because you couldn't find something, it does not exist? That is pure arrogance. You still have yet to answer a basic question of how Apple was supposed to handle the ONE extension we both know Google implemented Signal Protocol based E2EE.
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You accuse me of arrogance, but you yourself can't provide a single link to prove your point. Maybe you should look in the mirror.
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You accuse me of arrogance, but you yourself can't provide a single link to prove your point. Maybe you should look in the mirror.
Bahahahahahahaha. You NEVER asked me for a link. You simply stated you couldn't find one therefore none existed. Let me repeat what I said earlier. WE BOTH KNOW Signal based E2EE is a feature the Google has that is not in Universal Profile 1.0. It does not exist in Universal Profile 4.0. You have yet to address that point. Seeing how you are unable to address any other points, that one point keeps destroying your arguments.
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Well, GSMA itself says that E2EE does exist in Universal Profile 3.0. https://www.gsma.com/solutions... [gsma.com] Where did you get your information, exactly?
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False. The main problem was that Apple was deliberately degrading any message and capabilities related to RCS. It wasn't anything to do with encryption. They didn't implement some of the basic standard functionality, and when they did they also did client side degradations as well: e.g. auto-resize images to a significantly lower quality before sending them as an RCS vs an iMessage for absolutely no reason what so ever.
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The main problem was that Apple was deliberately degrading any message and capabilities related to RCS.
Google RCS is not RCS. That was the problem. It is a proprietary extension to RCS. The "degrade" you are talking about is when the default behavior of messages: Fallback to MMS.
They didn't implement some of the basic standard functionality, and when they did they also did client side degradations as well: e.g. auto-resize images to a significantly lower quality before sending them as an RCS vs an iMessage for absolutely no reason what so ever.
Again. Google RCS is not RCS. Proprietary extension is what Google RCS was.
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It's not confusing at all. You said yourself it's a superset. And again it has a specific set of features that are fully backwards compatible. Google has zero control over RCS. Everyone can implement RCS as per the GSMA standard and send messages to and from Google devices with no issue. The fact that it doesn't support Google's end to end encryption has nothing to do with the standard and is of no impact to developers nor does it affect functionality of users.
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It's not confusing at all. You said yourself it's a superset.
Google RCS is a proprietary superset ONLY implemented by Google not the GSMA.
. And again it has a specific set of features that are fully backwards compatible.
The problem again which you fail to recognize is the fallback is to MMS as Google RCS was a proprietary extension to RCS.
Google has zero control over RCS. Everyone can implement RCS as per the GSMA standard and send messages to and from Google devices with no issue.
You are using the same misleading statements as Google. Google has control over Google RCS. Rather than call their protocol something different Googler "RCS" meaning both GSMA RCS and Google RCS al the time.
The fact that it doesn't support Google's end to end encryption has nothing to do with the standard and is of no impact to developers nor does it affect functionality of users.
Please show me in the GSMA RCS 2.0 specification how the carriers are supposed to handle Google RCS again?
Re:And nothing of value was lost... (Score:4, Informative)
Used the Samsung App up until around two years ago, then switched to the Google one (my old Samsung was going out of OS support and I was not sure its replacement was going to be the same make). Switching was trivially easy, and my messaging history was then available under both apps.
I don't use messaging much anyway and as far as I could discern, Google Messages was marginally better than the Samsung version.
My newer phone is another Samsung (a year old now) but does not appear to have that messaging app of theirs.
Never assume anything proprietary will last. (Score:4, Insightful)
And never assume anything Google will last.
Re:Never assume anything proprietary will last. (Score:4, Funny)
And never assume anything Google will last.
Heh, except gmail, right? RIGHT?!
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Well, technically it works -- but it's so far from email standards that I wouldn't be surprised if they drop compatibility with regular email at some point.
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Opting-out will be possible of course.
To start with.
Messages app? (Score:2)
I didn't even know Samsung had a Messages app. It must have come after my last Samung tablet purchase, a Tab 3 back around 2013 or so.
Re: Messages app? (Score:5, Insightful)
It's a part of their forced app suite preinstalled on their phone that you can never fully switch off.
Best you can do, and what most people do, is create a separate folder in the launcher, shove all the apps there and ignore them as they all deserve to be, bloody useless bloatware.
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That was the only Samsung app I routinely used, not least because I did not want to give Google my meta-data, but then I decided they had it anyway and it was getting to be time to get a new phone - and I wanted the freedom to move away from Samsung if I found anything better. I did not find anything better, and my replacement is good for OS updates for several years.
Rather amusingly, a few years ago they announced that their browser was one of the most popular ones worldwide based on the number of times i
How to disable bloatware (Score:3)
Settings > Apps > All Apps > (the one you don't want) > Disable
It won't free space, but It removes the icons, it won't run in the background, etc.
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Not all can even be disabled.
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> It's a part of their forced app suite preinstalled on their phone that you can never fully switch off.
I've had good results with Universal Android Debloater [github.com] so far. It's a bit extreme but... again, results.
=Smidge=
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Best you can do, and what most people do, is create a separate folder in the launcher, shove all the apps there and ignore them as they all deserve to be, bloody useless bloatware.
I think you'll find most people actually know how to use a phone and for apps they will never use they simply long press the app and then hit "Disable" which not only removes the app from the home screen, but also blocks it from updating freeing up space on the user writable partition on the phone.
Forgive me if I sound snarky, it's probably due to the fact that this feature has existed for FIFTEEN YEARS having been introduced back in Android 4.0
Also I'm not sure anyone on the face of this planet wou
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* NOT AVAILABLE FOR SYSTEM APPS
(Samsung preinstalled apps are classified as system apps on Samsung phones)
False. Nearly all Samsung pre-installed apps are not classified as system apps.
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Samsung has always had a messaging app. Always. In fact in the early days of Android *all* phone vendors had their own messaging app and virtually none shipped with a Google default.
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I use Samsung Messages. It works fine for SMS and MMS. Samsung Smart Switch copies your message history across when you get a new phone. You can disable the RCS and AI crap. I really don't want to be using Google applications if I can avoid it. I don't want them getting their dirty mitts on my data. One of the best things about a Samsung phone was that there were alternatives to all the Google crap. There's no reason to buy Samsung if they're moving away from that.
Everyone has their own message app (Score:5, Interesting)
Everyone has their own message app, and outside US, almost no one uses it for anything other than SMS. For everything else, it's Whatsapp, Telegram, WeChat, Signal, etc.
It's interesting that google and other phone manufacturers lost this fight so comprehensively.
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>"Everyone has their own message app, and outside US, almost no one uses it for anything other than SMS. For everything else, it's Whatsapp, Telegram, WeChat, Signal, etc."
I have never used Samsung's, although it is on my phone. Or any other manufacturer's (LG, Moto, etc). But I also don't use Google Messages. I use Textra with every phone, regardless of brand. But I also don't use any other messaging except SMS. I just want something that works and does what I want.
https://textra.me/ [textra.me]
https://play.go [google.com]
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Why would you want SMS app with "ads and in app purchases" when so many fully featured ad free with no in app purchases SMS apps exist?
What does it offer that others don't?
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>"Why would you want SMS app with "ads and in app purchases" when so many fully featured ad free with no in app purchases SMS apps exist?"
I have been using it for many years. Long before there were any good other options. There might be better options now, I don't know. I have been happy with Textra, though. Updated regularly, lots of features, and reliable.
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I'm just curious as to why you'd use that instead of any manufacturer or google's offering, since those are feature complete, have no ads and no in app purchases.
"I used it when options were worse, and I just like it the way it is" is a completely justifiable reason. A lot of things in our lives, there are better options but having to switch carries cognitive and time costs that are just not worth it.
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You are pretty close. I honestly can't even remember why, it was so many years ago. I only remember hating the messaging app and hating what Google offered and heard about Textra. Tried it, and it solved all my problems. I paid a few dollars to support it. And over the years, it just kept getting better.
Since I have no interest in social media or other DM, all I need/use is SMS. It is possible there are better options now, but I have no motivation or need to explore anything else yet.
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Interesting feature. Never even thought about using this.
I can see some people needing it though.
Has google added to it theirs recently?
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Water flows freely through non-constricted entrances...
Never used it (Score:2)
Even though I've pretty consistently used Samsung phones for like 15 years now, I always switched the default messaging app to Google's. Phone companies don't need to reinvent the wheel.
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I honestly liked the Samsung UI better
Agreed. Google's Android applications are mostly awful.
No one gives a fuck (Score:1)
AI features? (Score:3)
Wait, AI features are a benefit? Haha, no.
Re: AI features? (Score:2)
Yeah, great benefits. When you send an image with RCS, instead of a boring gallery picker you get a blurry preview and a silly banana icon offering to "remix" it for you.
Also, Google's implementation of RCS is shit, it breaks randomly and just starts blackholing messages because your phone fails some element of the 215-point Authentication process and gets disconnected from the servers, which keep telling all your correspondents that you're connected and available and by all means don't fallback to SMS. P
Just what we needed (Score:1)
Is handing all off our messaging metadata to Google. Wonder how much they paid off Samsung to get it
Samsung apps are all like this (Score:5, Insightful)
The worst app is "AppCloud" which is a trojan/malware that automatically installs "curated" software on devices without consent. It slips into the setup sequence asking for consent when people are already habituated to clicking through screens to make their phone work. Did I mention it was made by an Israeli company called ironSource? It's one of those bits of software that cannot be removed so it's always there and I believe many people do not know how to turn it off. God knows what data it is harvesting, or the risk especially for people using Samsung devices in countries that are not friendly to Israel.
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*Device manufacturer* apps are all like this.
Dell and HP (and all the other PC brands) think they can put a face on Windows better than Microsoft. ALL of their little add-on apps suck.
Every phone brand wants you to see the world through their little front end, and they all suck.
I use Motorola phones because they give you the closest thing to plain-old Android that you can find anywhere.
OSes (and basic apps) are hard. Leave it to the OS companies.
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>> I use Motorola phones because they give you the closest thing to plain-old Android that you can find anywhere.
Wouldn't that be a Pixel phone? I mean by definition...
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Yep, you found an exception. Also, Microsoft makes a Surface tablet.
In both of those cases, I'd wonder about the quality of the hardware, since it's an OS company trying to build a device.
Most companies should stick with what they're good at.
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Good point.
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I had, I believe it was a Galaxy A01 for a brief period, due to a job that required mobile Microsoft Teams. Their crapware was the only thing I didn't like about it. On their low-end phones it seems to serve the purpose of sequestering disk space, to make you think you need to upgrade to a higher-end model. They had it engineered so that you can install two or three apps you actually want on it, then you start getting disk space warnings from the OS.
The strangest thing was that, for all the crapware apps lo
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Nobody? Let's run down the list shall we?
Firstly we're talking about the core messaging app. I think people would be rightfully pissed if they were given a phone which lacked an app to send and receive SMSes out of the box. That's what we're talking about here. Samsung is replacing a core phone feature with a Google app. No thanks. Samsung messenger is nice and basic and does what it needs to do.
Samsung Browser - I use this. It's Google Chrome except you can install adblockers on it. Because God knows Googl
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Do you work for Samsung or are you just performatively being a contrarian?
I know it may be difficult for you to understand that everyone in the world is not you. Unfortunately for you some of us just have Samsung phones and devices, (and in my case a Huawei fitness tracker) and using Samsung apps is the path of least resistance for many.
One man's bloat is another man's important feature. I'm happy for you that you don't want to use these apps. Don't. It's your prerogative. However I'm less happy that people like you think your personal opinion and personal use case is the only on
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By the way you do realise that Samsung's most major marketing feature is Bixby right? The thing I agreed with you is a cancer in this world? (How contrarian of me agreeing with you). And you think that means I work for Samsung?
Please don't use Slashdot drunk. Have some respect for intelligent conversation.
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This actually drove me back to Pixels. I felt like I was constantly fighting against all of Samsung's crap. They IMHO made the messages app look deceptively similar to the actual Google app, same with contacts. I felt for years Google and Samsung were in a low key war to own my contacts. And eventually you reach a detente- you have all the bloat in check... and then a big update comes and its alll back again. And then one time I had these random terrible games just appear- and the cause was another helpful
Now do the rest (Score:1)
samsung message (Score:2)
That's a good first step, Samsung (Score:2)
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Fuck that. The whole reason that I buy Samsung is because they have viable alternatives to all the Google apps. Google is a shit company and completely untrustworthy.
Samsung - Google transfer... (Score:2)
My wife made the switch, and suddenly found that all messages she had sent TO me, and all new messages FROM me, were in the history of her niece.
No idea why.
She had to rename everything in her niece's contact to match me, and then create a NEW contact for her.
No idea if it happened to any OTHER of her contacts...
Samsung Messages? (Score:2)
As someone who's been using Samsung phones for about 15 years, I had no idea there was a thing called "Samsung Messages". I tend to tune out all the shovelware that phones come with (and take steps to remove or disable them).
I really like Samsung phones, but their software ecosystem is abysmal. Everything they provide is inferior to other options.
No thanks (Score:2)
But I don't want to use Google Messages. Is there a decent alternative? I just use it for SMS, nothing else.
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