In a nutshell: Samsung is lastly pulling the plug on one among its most acquainted first-party apps. After years of pushing Galaxy homeowners towards Google Messages, the corporate has now confirmed that Samsung Messages might be discontinued in three months.
The affirmation comes from an Finish-of-Service discover on Samsung’s US web site, which says the app might be discontinued in July 2026. It advises customers to maneuver to Google Messages to take care of a constant Android messaging expertise.
Samsung has not posted a shutdown date on the assist web page itself, as a substitute telling customers to examine the Samsung Messages app for the precise cutoff on their machine.
The corporate additionally says customers on Android 11 or older will not be affected. After the shutdown, Samsung Messages will solely work for emergency numbers or emergency contacts.
Samsung has been heading towards this resolution for years. The corporate progressively changed Samsung Messages with Google Messages because the default texting app on newer Galaxy telephones, tablets, and wearables as the 2 corporations pushed RCS throughout Android.
Samsung can also be utilizing the swap to focus on Google’s perks: stronger spam safety, richer group chats, higher picture and video sharing, typing indicators, multi-device syncing, and Gemini-powered options akin to sensible replies.
There are some catches, although. Samsung says units launched earlier than 2022 might see short-term disruptions to ongoing RCS chats in the course of the swap, though common SMS and MMS will nonetheless work.
Older Tizen-based watches launched earlier than the Galaxy Watch4 additionally can not assist Google Messages, which suggests they’ll lose entry to full dialog historical past after Samsung Messages is retired, regardless that fundamental texting will stay.
Samsung has already closed the door on the app for Galaxy S26 and newer units, and after the July shutdown, different Galaxy homeowners will not be capable of obtain it from the Galaxy Retailer both.
None of that is particularly stunning, nevertheless it’s nonetheless the tip of an period for longtime Galaxy customers. Samsung Messages was lengthy praised for being acquainted, light-weight, and deeply tied to the corporate’s ecosystem at a time when Samsung liked providing its personal various to just about every little thing Google made.
