Last month Verizon announced it would kill its “Message+” app for Android phones sold on its network, transitioning users over to Google Messages. But, now, Verizon has extended the timeline a bit.
Google Messages has become the standard messaging app across Android phones, with the SMS app also being the best way to use RCS that works independent of your carrier. Verizon announced in early October that it would be shutting down Message+, the SMS app it has been pre-loading on Android phones for over a decade, in early November. That date has since passed, though, and the app continues to work.
That’s because Verizon quietly announced that it would delay the shutdown by another month.
As first noted by Droid-Life, Verizon updated a support page regarding the Message+ shutdown to extend the timeline out to December 9, 2024. Previously, the carrier had announced the app would cease operation on November 7.
When Message+ shuts down, users won’t be able to send or receive messages, and anything scheduled past December 9 will not be sent. Verizon explains:
Verizon will start to shut down the Message+ app on 10/2/24. The app will be fully discontinued on 12/9/24.
When the Message+ app is shut down:
- You won’t be able to use the Message+ app to send and receive messages.
- Any Message+ messages you previously scheduled to be sent on or after 12/9/24 will not be sent.
Google Messages will be the preferred option going forward for Verizon customers.
Verizon hasn’t offered any reasoning for the extension, but it likely comes down to giving customers more time to switch. Message+ has been around for a long time and is used by many, so there’s likely a considerable number of users resistant to changing over.
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