Samsung is officially shutting down its native Messages app. Starting in July 2026, Samsung Messages will no longer send texts, receive media, or load group chats.
At that point, the app will basically be dead, aside from emergency service or emergency contact access. For people using newer phones, that transition has already happened.
On the Samsung Galaxy S26, Samsung’s built-in messaging app was not pre-installed. Galaxy S26 and newer devices also cannot download Samsung Messages from the Galaxy Store.
The July 2026 cutoff is the final phase, hitting the older phones still using it. The only devices spared will be those still running the outdated Android 11 operating system or lower.
That raises a question. Is Samsung cleaning up duplicates, or is it gradually stepping back and letting Google define more of the Galaxy experience?
Google Messages is better than ever, but it still leaves me frustrated
Google Messages still leaves a lot to be desired
How Google won the Android messaging war
Samsung frames the move around RCS, and that makes sense. RCS is the modern replacement for SMS and MMS.
It brings better media sharing, read receipts, typing indicators, and better cross-platform messaging when everyone involved supports it.
So why didn’t Samsung update its own app to handle all of that? Because Google had the infrastructure behind it.
Samsung Messages was only as good as the carrier behind it. The app relied on telecom companies to host and support RCS servers.
If a carrier failed to keep its system in shape, Samsung Messages would break and drop back to standard SMS and MMS behavior.
Google spotted that problem early and bought Jibe Mobile in 2015. From there, it built a platform for carriers to support RCS without building the whole backend themselves.
Telecom companies gladly walked away and handed the expense and maintenance over to Google. Over time, Google Messages became the easiest path to RCS on Android.
That is why Samsung did not update Samsung Messages and call it a day. It could have kept the app alive, but it would have been fighting Google from a weaker position.
Google had already built the closest thing Android has to iMessage, and Samsung eventually chose to stop competing with it.
Samsung’s apps are slowly losing ground
Google is making Samsung’s built-in apps irrelevant. Digital payments tell the same story.
Google Wallet holds a stronger position than Samsung Wallet because of how seamlessly it works across Android and Wear OS.
Google is wiring its payment infrastructure into the deeper layers of Android. Android 16’s Live Updates give Google services a direct path into the lock screen and notification layer.
Google Wallet is already using that system for flight updates on Android 16 devices, and Samsung’s Now Bar is designed to present these kinds of live updates on Galaxy phones.
Samsung Wallet can still compete, but Google owns the OS-level plumbing and the ecosystem of Gmail, Google Wallet, and Google Maps around it.
Samsung is not really in a position to match this kind of software-to-hardware synergy.
AI is following the same pattern. Samsung has not abandoned Bixby. In fact, it has upgraded Bixby with Perplexity-powered real-time web search.
But Google is embedding Gemini across Android and apps at a deeper level. This AI layer can easily reach into Samsung experiences without Samsung fully owning the intelligence behind them.
Google Messages may be better, but choice still matters
The Samsung Messages shutdown has collateral damage. Samsung says older Tizen-based Galaxy Watches (released before the Galaxy Watch 4) cannot support Google Messages.
After the July 2026 cutoff, you lose access to full conversation histories on your wrist. Basic message reading and sending remain, but the deeper software synchronization you paid for is gone.
That detail matters because Android built its reputation on user choice and customization. You bought the phone, so you decided how it worked and what software stayed on it.
But between Samsung retiring its own messaging app and Google tightening Android developer verification rules, that old promise feels less absolute.
Google can still argue this is about consistency and a better messaging experience. In many ways, it is. Google Messages is probably the better messaging app for most people.
But it also means another core Galaxy experience now runs through Google’s stack.
Samsung sells the hardware, but Google owns the experience
Samsung is still a top player in Android hardware. It makes some of the best foldable phones and displays in the business. But it is starting to feel like Samsung is leasing the software experience to Google.
If Samsung gives up the app people use more than anything else on a smartphone, what gets handed over next? My bet is Samsung Wallet and Bixby.
