Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Samsung has confirmed to Android Authority that it’s switching to Google Messages as the default messaging app on phones.
- The company said it was making this move to “accelerate the adoption” of RCS and to deliver a “more robust and engaging” messaging experience.
- The Galaxy maker added that this move was restricted to the US for now.
Samsung recently notified Galaxy phone owners that it was dropping Samsung Messages as the preloaded messaging app on its devices, starting with the Galaxy Z Flip 6 and Z Fold 6. Instead, the company will preload Google Messages on these and future phones.
Samsung has now confirmed the move to Android Authority while revealing its reasons for the decision:
Samsung and Google have been closely working together on many communication service areas and this collaborative effort to make Google Messages the default common messaging platform for the Android mobile ecosystem will accelerate the adoption of Rich Communication Services (RCS) and deliver a more robust and engaging mobile messaging experience to Galaxy users.
“The rollout is currently limited to the US and we look forward to sharing more details in the coming months,” a Samsung spokesperson added.
RCS is the successor to the SMS standard, allowing for sending and receiving messages over the internet. RCS also offers high-quality media sharing, voice notes, typing indicators, and more. It’s not immediately clear how Samsung’s switch to Google Messages will grow RCS usage and adoption. However, Google Messages supports RCS functionality regardless of the carrier, while RCS support in Samsung Messages is seemingly dependent on the mobile network. So adopting Google Messages could make for a more streamlined, intuitive approach for consumers wanting to use the new-generation texting standard.
In saying so, Google Messages currently lags behind Samsung Messages when it comes to sending/receiving images via RCS. Samsung’s client is able to send uncompressed images via RCS, whereas Google’s texting app heavily compresses pictures. Fortunately, our own app teardown reveals that Google is working on a solution.
It’s worth noting that Galaxy phone owners with Samsung Messages can continue to use Samsung’s texting app. Samsung also said it would still let users download Samsung Messages via the Galaxy Store if they’d like to keep using it. Nevertheless, the company is clearly putting its texting eggs in the Google basket.