Samsung just quietly retired its Google Messages rival, and not everyone will be happy about it
- The Samsung Galaxy S25 series marks the end of support for Samsung Messages
- Samsung’s latest flagships come with Google Messages as the default messenger app
- Samsung Messages has been pulled from digital storefronts
Samsung has quietly disabled one of its native apps for users of the Samsung Galaxy S25, Galaxy S25 Plus, and Galaxy S25 Ultra.
The company has made its Samsung Messages app completely unavailable to users of its latest series of flagship phones, instead equipping these devices with Google Messages by default.
The Galaxy S25 family aren’t the first Samsung phones to launch without Samsung Messages – the Galaxy Z Flip 6 and Galaxy Z Fold 6 debuted last year with Google Messages as their default messaging app. Users of these phones did, however, have the option of installing and enabling Samsung Messages later on. Galaxy S25 owners have no such option – it’s Google Messages or nothing.
As PhoneArena notes, Samsung Messages users on older Galaxy models who already have the app installed will be able to continue using it.
However, some concern has arisen over the future of Samsung Messages on older devices – with the app pulled from stores and no future support promised, it’s unlikely to see significant updates and may even miss out on security updates.
A Samsung spokesperson issued a statement to Android Authority on January 23 that offers some insight into the company’s decision to swap to Google Messages: “With the close collaboration between Google and Samsung, we have opted to migrate all services to Google Messages and are sunsetting Samsung Messages. It’s no longer available in the Play Store; however, those who chose to utilize Samsung Messages are still able to do so.”
The statement adds that Google Messages’ enhanced RCS functionality was a factor in the decision: “We believe that the added functionality of RCS messaging on Google Messages creates an enhanced user experience for both Android-to-Android messaging and across platforms.”
Previous steps away from Samsung Messages and towards Google Messages have been met with backlash from loyal Galaxy fans. A thread on r/GoogleMessages discussing Verizon’s decision to drop RCS support from Samsung Messages in December 2024 included comments like “Samsung had me switch to Google Messages less than a week ago and it’s been horrible ever since” from user WolfieVonD, and “Not happy about having to use google messages. Can Google leave any space untouched[?]” from user Ill-Room-5460.
Despite any possible protests, it’s unlikely we’ll see this decision reversed. Google Messages comes pre-installed on all of the best Android phones and, thanks to this switch, will be standard on the best Samsung phones going forwards.