Samsung has long insisted on using its own messaging app instead of Google Messages, which many Android phones ship with as the default messaging app. Now, the company has reportedly announced it will switch to a new preloaded messaging app.
The new app Samsung will use is Google Messages. Samsung said that starting with the Galaxy Z Flip 6, Z Fold 6, and newer phones, Google Messages will come preinstalled instead of Samsung Messages. Samsung Messages will no longer automatically be on your phone right away.
You will still be able to download Samsung Messages from the Galaxy Store if you want. But some features might not work as well if you do.
This change is only for phones sold in the United States for now. Phones sold in Canada and Europe will still have Samsung Messages preloaded as the default.
Many people were worried about image quality when sending pictures through RCS chat with Google Messages. The app would squash nice high quality photos down to much smaller, lower-quality sizes.
But Google has been working to fix this. Soon you’ll be able to send bigger pictures over RCS chat like you can with Samsung Messages. So it should be good Samsung is switching once that problem is solved.
We asked Samsung why it’s making this change from Samsung Messages to Google Messages. We will update you when they respond.
Overall, this update seems aimed at giving US Samsung users a messaging experience more like other Android phones right out of the box. Time will tell if people prefer Google Messages over Samsung’s app once the change happens.
