Google Messages is one of the best text messaging apps for Android thanks to its ability to use Rich Communication Services (RCS) for a better out-of-the-box texting experience across many Android devices. However, it’s less than ideal when RCS features break and users are left unable to connect, which is apparently what’s been happening lately.
Multiple users across Reddit and the Google Messages support forum have complained that the app will randomly stop connecting to RCS and won’t reestablish a connection. Users find that their connection status is left on “Connecting…” or “Waiting to verify…” without the app actually completing either step.
Some users have been met with a notice that “Chat features unavailable for this device,” despite the feature working previously on the same smartphone.
This leaves users on SMS texting as a fallback and without many of the features RCS is known for, such as typing indicators, high-resolution media, and reactions. Some messages also end up getting stuck in RCS limbo while the app attempts to reconnect.
We’ve reached out to Google to inquire as to whether or not a solution was being actively worked on. While we did not immediately receive a response by the time of publication, it appears Google is aware of the problem, and a spokesperson told Android Police that the company was working to minimize the frequency of the connection issues.
It may not be very reassuring, and there doesn’t appear to be a timeline of when users can expect things to get better, however, some users have already identified possible solutions that have had mixed success. One community post highlights one method that involves turning off Chat features for 10 days before clearing app cache and data for Google Messages and Carrier Services, then restarting the phone before attempting to reconnect.
Users can also try unregistering their number to turn RCS off using this form before trying to enable RCS Chat features in Google Messages at another time.
That said, the various methods found in the community posts don’t seem to work for everyone, but they may be worth trying out if you’re desperate to get RCS working again.
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