- Samsung Messages will be discontinued by July 2026 after an official end-of-service notice.
- Google Messages becomes the default and only messaging app on Galaxy devices.
- Samsung had already stopped preloading its own app since the Galaxy Z Fold 6 launch.
- US Galaxy users gain RCS messaging, Gemini AI features, and cross-device chat syncing.
Samsung Messages Is Dead — Google Wins the Default
Samsung posted an “End of Service Announcement” on its website confirming that Samsung Messages will no longer be available by July 2026. The company recommended all users switch to Google Messages as their default messaging app immediately.
The move is not sudden. Samsung began phasing out its messaging app in 2024 when it stopped preloading Samsung Messages on the Galaxy Z Flip 6 and Galaxy Z Fold 6. The Galaxy S25 series followed the same path, shipping exclusively with Google Messages. The Samsung Messages app remained available on the Galaxy Store, but its days were numbered.
What Galaxy Users Get — and Lose — With Google Messages
For US users, the transition brings full RCS messaging support: high-quality media sharing, group chats, read receipts, and real-time typing indicators across Android and iOS. Google Messages also integrates Gemini AI features, including photo remixing in chats and smart reply suggestions.
Galaxy owners will lose some Samsung-specific customization options, including certain chat themes and interface tweaks that Samsung Messages offered. But Google Messages compensates with seamless cross-device chat switching between smartphones, tablets, and smartwatches — a feature Samsung’s app never matched. The exact shutdown date has not been announced, but Samsung said it will be communicated directly inside the app before July.
