Key Takeaways
- Samsung is pushing older Galaxy phone users to switch from Samsung Messages to Google Messages.
- The Korean company has been slowly transitioning users away from its messaging app to Google Messages.
- Google Messages lacks features like categories and might be slow to load your conversations initially.
With the debut of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Flip 6 in July this year, the Korean company ditched Samsung Messages in favor of Google Messages. However, the change only applied to the foldables sold in the US. In Canada and Europe, the devices still come with Samsung Messages preloaded, though Google Messages is the default messaging app. It now appears Samsung is urging older Galaxy phone owners to switch to Google Messages as well.
Several Samsung Messages users using older Galaxy phones, such as the Galaxy S20 and S21 series, report getting prompts in the app to switch to Google Messages (via Android Authority). You are free to ignore the prompt and continue using Samsung Messages. However, based on reports, the app will frequently nag you to switch to Google’s messaging app.
For now, there are sporadic user reports about this, but Samsung could expand its push away from Samsung Messages for older Galaxy users in the coming weeks.
Samsung switched to Google Messages in favor of its messaging app with the Galaxy S21 series in Europe back in 2021. Since then, the company has slowly transitioned users from Samsung Messages to Google Messages. The latter is the de-facto RCS messaging app for Android, with Google constantly improving it with features like Gemini integration and full-screen effects.
All signs point to Samsung phasing out Samsung Messages and replacing it with Google Messages entirely across all its devices in the coming months.
You might not like the Google Messages experience
Given that Google Messages gets more spotlight than Samsung Messages, you might think it’s the superior messaging app. But as many Galaxy users are finding out, that’s not the case.
Unlike Samsung Messages, Google Messages does not support categories, so you cannot separate your priority conversations from the less important ones. Your only option is to use search filters to filter out messages based on their read status, SIM card, images, and videos.
Many users also report Google Messages taking a long time to load their inbox and ongoing conversations, possibly due to the initial background syncing. Depending on the number of messages in your inbox, the slowness should resolve itself after about 24 hours.