Samsung Messages will stop working for US users in July. Here’s the quickest way to move your text messages and message history to Google Messages before the deadline.
Omar Gallaga has covered technology, digital culture and other topics for outlets including CNET, NPR, WIRED, Texas Monthly, MSNBC, Consumer Reports, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, The Atlantic and Austin American-Statesman, where he was a longtime reporter, editor and podcaster. He lives in the Texas Hill Country.
In July, Samsung Messages stopped working, and for anyone who still uses the app as their primary text messaging platform, this is no longer a future issue. This is a problem for this week. Samsung announced the US shutdown months ago, and the migration path has always been clear: Google Messages is the destination and the process is simple. What’s not automatic is your text history. Conversations, RCS threads, and message archives are not transferred on their own, and once the app is disabled, anything that didn’t survive doesn’t come back.
Lithium-ion batteries do not fail suddenly. Instead, they erode. Each charge cycle, each hour spent at 100%, and each fast-charging session gradually contributes to a loss of capacity that is invisible until it isn’t. Most people notice a drop in phone ownership after a year or two and assume that’s exactly what’s happening. This is what happens, but the speed at which it happens is heavily influenced by how you charge the device. A few habit changes, applied consistently, can significantly extend the time your phone retains a useful charge.
The steps that preserve your text history are the ones you need to do yourself, before the deadline, and the longer you wait, the more likely it is that something will be forgotten.
On a page with information about the change, Samsung links to instructions for switching to Google’s Messages app, including for phones still running Android 12 and Android 13. Samsung has historically included its own Messages app on Galaxy phones, but began transitioning to Google Messages as early as 2021.
To encourage people to switch to Google Messages, Samsung’s instructions list new features, such as typing indicators, easier group chats, and the ability to send higher quality images. Google’s Messages app also has AI-based spam detection and filters, cross-device access to messages, and some built-in Gemini AI features.
It is also the most popular application Android Phones use as default email app, including Samsung’s newest Galaxy S26. There are other alternatives to texting apps in the Google Play Store if you don’t want to use the one created by Google.
Samsung did not specify when exactly, in July, messaging would no longer work in the app. A representative for Samsung did not respond to a request for comment. Once the app is disabled, only messaging for emergency services will work on Samsung Messages.
While the phone maker stopped including it as the default messaging app in 2021, it wasn’t until 2024 that Samsung stopped pre-installing it alongside Google Messages. The Galaxy S26 cannot download the Samsung Messages app, and other phones will not be able to download it after the app’s July sunset.
Samsung said users on Android 11 or earlier would not be affected by the end of the service, but would also likely benefit from switching to a supported text messaging app like Google Messages. To switch to Google Messages, the company asks users to download the app if it’s not already installed and set it as the default SMS app when prompted after launching it.
The post also states that anyone using an older Galaxy Watch running Samsung’s Tizen operating system will no longer have access to their full chat history, as these watches cannot use Google Messages. Samsung said they will still be able to read and send text messages, but the company’s newer watches (Galaxy Watch 4 and later) that run WearOS will still have access to full conversations.
Omar Gallaga has covered technology, digital culture and other topics for outlets including CNET, NPR, WIRED, Texas Monthly, MSNBC, Consumer Reports, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, The Atlantic and Austin American-Statesman, where he was a longtime reporter, editor and podcaster. He lives in the Texas Hill Country. See full bio
