New Galaxy phones in the USA no longer ship with the Samsung Messaging app pre-installed. All new Galaxy phones sold Stateside favor Google Messages over the 1st-party Samsung app. We've known this for a couple of months. However, it now looks like the Korean tech giant's efforts to replace its messaging app with Google's are slowly extending to older devices.
According to numerous Galaxy phone users in the USA, Samsung is now trying to phase out its proprietary Messaging app on older phones, such as the Galaxy S20, Galaxy S21, and Galaxy S22 (via Android Authority, Reddit, and Threads).
For now, the Samsung Messaging app is still usable, but Samsung appears to want every Galaxy phone owner to transition to Google's app sooner rather than later.
All in the name of RCS
In case you missed the news earlier this summer, Samsung decided to support Google's messaging app in favor of its own in the name of RCS (Rich Communication Services).
This service is meant to replace traditional SMS and MMS as it offers support for modern features such as live read/seen and typing indicators, emojis, stickers, high-resolution multimedia files, location, individual message replies, and more.
Although Samsung Messages technically supports RCS, the app's functionality is limited by network operators. In contrast, Google Messages supports RCS regardless of carrier settings.
Earlier this summer, Samsung said it decided to work closely with Google to make its Messages app the default platform for Android, all in the name of accelerating the adoption of RCS. Not only is the RCS platform more feature-rich but is also more secure than traditional SMS and MMS.
