If you have not heard but, Samsung has formally confirmed that it is shutting down its Samsung Messages app later this 12 months. The corporate has already stopped pre-installing it on newer Galaxy gadgets, together with the Galaxy S26 collection, and now says it is going to be totally discontinued in July 2026.
Samsung notes that you will nonetheless be capable to ship messages utilizing the app till then, apart from emergency companies or contacts. After it is discontinued, the app will now not be obtainable for obtain from the Galaxy Retailer.
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Probably the most pure successor to Samsung Messages, particularly if you wish to preserve utilizing RCS, is Google Messages. It is the official different Samsung is recommending, and it is presently the one extensively obtainable messaging app on Android that totally helps RCS.
Google Messages is already the default messaging app on most Android telephones, and Google has been including new options persistently over the previous 12 months to make it extra succesful and unified throughout gadgets. And with RCS assist on Google Messages, you get options like dependable cross-texting with iPhones, typing indicators, high-quality media sharing, message reactions, in addition to built-in spam safety.
In fact, it isn’t an ideal alternative for Samsung Messages. You may miss issues like deeper chat customization (though Google appears to be engaged on integrating this), higher message categorization, and a extra versatile UI.
And in case you desire a less complicated expertise, Google Messages’ Gemini integrations may not be for everybody. But when RCS issues to you, that is just about your solely possibility proper now.
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For those who’re open to transferring away from RCS altogether, the messaging app nearly everybody makes use of is WhatsApp. It is extensively adopted globally, works throughout platforms, and provides extra options than each Samsung Messages and Google Messages. You get built-in voice and video calls, group chats, communities, message reactions, and all of the options you normally discover in SMS-based texting apps.
That mentioned, it isn’t good. Whereas WhatsApp makes use of end-to-end encryption by default, there have been current issues round privateness, with reviews suggesting Meta workers might bypass E2EE to learn personal messages with out a decryption step, though the corporate has denied these claims.
Nonetheless, in case your precedence is reaching the most individuals with the least effort, that is the best change you may make.
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If WhatsApp is not for you, one other different that may curiosity you, even when it sounds a bit odd at first, is Instagram DMs. Lots of people already use Instagram as their main messaging platform (together with myself). One of many greatest benefits is that you do not want a cellphone quantity, since every little thing works by means of usernames.
Instagram DMs are already a terrific place for informal conversations, fast replies, and sharing memes or posts. You additionally get cross-platform messaging in some areas with Fb Messenger integration, together with options like chat themes, vanish mode, and reactions.
In fact, it isn’t designed to interchange SMS or a devoted messaging app. However relying in your utilization, you would possibly notice you are already counting on it greater than you suppose. That mentioned, if privateness is a precedence, Instagram may not be supreme, particularly with the corporate transferring away from end-to-end encryption for DMs beginning Might 8, 2026.
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For those who’re an influence consumer and need a feature-rich and versatile expertise, Telegram might be the most effective different. In comparison with most messaging apps, it is simply probably the most feature-packed choices on the market.
You get issues like huge group chats (as much as 200,000 members), channels, bots for automation, and assist for sharing massive recordsdata (as much as 4GB). One of many greatest benefits is its cloud-based sync, which makes switching gadgets easy, in contrast to SMS and even WhatsApp, whereby it’s a must to manually transfer your knowledge.
That mentioned, there is a trade-off. Common chats aren’t end-to-end encrypted by default, and you will want to make use of Secret Chats for that. For some customers, that may very well be a deal breaker.
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In case your principal concern is privateness, Sign is the app try to be . It provides end-to-end encryption by default throughout every little thing, together with messages, calls, and media, and it collects minimal consumer knowledge in comparison with most different messaging platforms.
The draw back is that it isn’t as extensively used, and the characteristic set is extra minimal in comparison with apps like WhatsApp or Telegram. However in case you’re okay convincing just a few shut contacts to modify, Sign might be probably the most safe possibility on this listing.
All that mentioned, there is not a real one-to-one alternative for Samsung Messages. There are some customizable SMS apps like Textra and QUIK SMS (open-source), however they do not assist RCS. So if RCS issues to you, you may have to modify to Google Messages. In any other case, your choices are kind of those listed above.
