It was recently announced that phones running Samsung’s One UI 6.1.1 will no longer come with the Samsung Messages app pre-installed in some countries. After several questions were raised about this move, Samsung has now explained why it made the change.
Samsung said the main reason for opting to move away from its own messaging app, Samsung Messages, and instead offer Google Messages as the default is to accelerate the adoption of Rich Communication Services (RCS) technology. By making Google Messages the default messaging app, the company aims to both increase the prevalence of RCS and provide Galaxy users with a more robust and engaging mobile messaging experience.
“Samsung and Google work closely across a wide range of communication services. This joint effort will accelerate RCS adoption by making Google Messages the default common messaging platform for the Android mobile ecosystem, and deliver a more powerful and engaging mobile messaging experience to Galaxy users,” Samsung said in a statement to Android Authority.
While this change is currently only being implemented in the US market, a Samsung executive hinted that similar measures could be implemented in other countries in the future. More information on the subject will be released in the coming months.
What is RCS and why is it important?
RCS is a more advanced messaging standard than text messaging (SMS) and multimedia messaging service (MMS). It enables sending and receiving text, high-resolution images and videos, emojis, stickers, and location sharing. It also offers modern messaging features such as real-time read/viewed notifications, typing indicator, individual message replies, and enhanced security. It significantly improves the user experience by bringing these features to group chats.
Following the European Union (EU) investigation into Apple’s policies, Apple announced that it will bring RCS to iPhones with the iOS 18 update. The RCS feature will be available to millions of iPhone users in the next few months, suggesting that Google and Samsung may have reached an agreement to use the Google Messages app as the default messaging app on Galaxy phones and tablets.
With the widespread use of RCS, the green bubble-blue bubble problem experienced by Android and iPhone users is expected to be largely eliminated. This will allow users to have a more consistent and rich messaging experience regardless of device.