Samsung is saying goodbye to its namesake texting app. According to an end-of-service announcement published on the tech giant’s U.S. support website, Samsung Messages will be discontinued in July.
Samsung smartphone and other gadget owners are being asked to switch to Google Messages in the meantime, “to maintain a consistent messaging experience on Android.”
All Samsung Galaxy phones run on Google’s Android operating system. To switch to Google Messages, Samsung’s website instructs users to download the app from the Play Store if it’s not already on their phone and set it as the default. Some people may also receive an in-app notification to guide them through the process.
Samsung says switching to Google Messages will give users access to updates like the latest artificial intelligence features from Google’s Gemini — which includes an experimental feature called “Remix” to generate images during conversations and AI-powered reply suggestions — and the ability to share higher quality photos between Android and Apple iOS devices through RCS-enabled messages.
Users of older Android operating systems (Android 11 or earlier) will not be affected by the end of Samsung Messages, the company noted. To check what Android OS you have on a Samsung device, open the settings app, click on “software information,” and scroll to “Android version.”
Meanwhile, owners of Samsung’s latest Galaxy 26 lineup and other newer phones cannot download the Samsung Messages app from the Galaxy Store today.
All devices will no longer be able to download Samsung Messages after it’s officially discontinued in July, the company noted. Samsung said users can check their app for the exact date when the service will go offline.
Beyond the U.S., Samsung did not immediately respond to a request for further information about whether its guidance for Samsung Messages was the same globally.
