Skip to main content

Samsung is discontinuing its texting app, tells impacted users to switch to Google Messages

NEW YORK (AP) — Samsung is saying goodbye its namesake texting app, at least for United States customers.

According to an end of service announcement published on the tech giant’s U.S. support website, Samsung Messages will be discontinued in July. Impacted owners of Samsung smartphones and other gadgets are being asked to switch to Google Messages in the meantime, “to maintain a consistent messaging experience on Android.”

All Samsung Galaxy phones run on Google’s Android operating system. To switch to Google Messages, Samsung’s website gives users instructions to download the app from the Play Store, if not already on their phone, and set it as the default. Some people may also receive an in-app notification to guide them through the process.

Samsung says switching to Google Messages will give users access to updates like the latest artificial intelligence features from Google’s Gemini — which includes an experimental feature called “Remix” to generate images during conversations and AI-powered reply suggestions — and the ability to share higher quality photos between Android and Apple iOS devices through RCS-enabled messages.

Users of older Android operating systems (dating back to Android 11 or older) will not be impacted by the end of Samsung Messages, the company noted. To check what Android OS you have on a Samsung device, open the settings app, click on “software information” and scroll to “Android version.”

Meanwhile, owners of Samsung’s latest Galaxy 26 lineup and other newer phones cannot download the Samsung Messages app from the Galaxy Store today.

All devices will no longer be able to download Samsung Messages after it’s officially discontinued in July, the company noted. Samsung said users can check their app for the exact date for when service will go offline.

Samsung confirmed in an update on its website Tuesday that this end of service guidance only applies to the U.S. market.

AI companies are barreling toward huge Wall Street debuts. A look at the biggest players

Some of the leading artificial intelligence companies are moving toward initial public offerings this year at eye-popping valuations. From Anthropic to SpaceX to OpenAI, tech giants are looking to take their shares public to access more capital in the race to shape the technology's future. The amount of money involved in building and maintaining artificial intelligence models, the pursuit of artificial general intelligence that can surpass humans at many tasks, and widespread AI adoption all have led to an air of excitement around the technology that has helped lift the stock market to record highs. “These companies are now burning through cash to win the AI race, and public equity is the cheapest source available, particularly in a rising interest rate environment,” said Michael Field, chief equity analyst at Morningstar. But amid the billions — even trillions — at stake, worries about an AI bubble are looming in the background. Some experts fear tech companies and venture capitalists are pouring too much money into a still-nascent and unproven technology.
Read Next Story

Related News

Data Doctors: Copilot won’t leave — here’s what to do

Data Doctors: Is online age verification safe?

Lawyers for Elon Musk and OpenAI make their final case in a trial that could shape AI’s future