topic Re: Disgusted with Google Messages decision in Galaxy S25

Losing Samsung Messages = Losing What Made Samsung Stand Out

xGoddess-11 — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 15:03:13 GMT

I’m extremely disappointed about Samsung Messages being phased out. One of the main reasons I switched from iPhone to Samsung over 8 years ago was the ability to fully customize my phone - & Samsung Messages is a big part of that experience.

Features like custom chat themes, fonts, bubbles, & full integration with my phone’s theme make my device feel personal. Google Messages does not offer the same level of customization, & this feels like a significant downgrade in user experience.

I understand the push for RCS & security features, but not all users prioritize that. Many of us value personalization & the ability to customize how we use our devices.

I’m seeing a lot of similar feedback from other users, & this change genuinely makes a lot of us reconsider staying with Samsung long-term. I chose Samsung for flexibility — not to have core features replaced with a more limited alternative.

I was already planning to upgrade to the latest Ultra model, but this change genuinely makes me reconsider that decision. For the first time in over 8 years, I’m even considering switching back to iPhone.

Right now, this feels like Samsung is removing what made it stand out.

Samsung messages

DarthAmberly — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 05:27:37 GMT

Sooo is google messages going to be compatible with samsung themes??

It's the reason i switched back to samsung from google pixel. I like the cute messaging app and fun shaped keys.

Re: Samsung messages

TXGreystone — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 05:40:48 GMT

Me too. Home screen with Samsung Message and Home Screen with Google Message. I'm annoyed that there isn't RCS on the Samsung Message app, but the theme feature is more important. I'm very upset. 😡

Re: Re: Samsung messages

DarthAmberly — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 05:46:31 GMT

Yeah I'm over these monopolies selling out and not caring about users. What's the point in staying with samsung if its basic functions are being taken away? Might as well go to Pixel since it's the same thing now. And Apple is trying out their own theme system too.

Re: Samsung messages

DarthAmberly — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 05:46:05 GMT

Or they could make sure google is compatible with themes. But that would cost money out of their 8 billion dollar deal.

Re: Re: Re: Samsung messages

TXGreystone — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 05:52:38 GMT

I've never looked at the Pixel until tonight to see what their home screen looks like. I'm not impressed, but if they have themes that alters the message icon, I will look again.

Re: Samsung messages

meself — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 05:52:46 GMT

Google messages is adding new features themes could be on of them

Re: Re: Samsung messages

DarthAmberly — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 05:54:37 GMT

I hope it's not just more colors. I want it to be completely compatible with samsungs current theme system

Re: Re: Re: Re: Samsung messages

DarthAmberly — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 05:56:12 GMT

They're ugly. You get a small handful of decorative options like color and shaped apps, but that's about it. Nothing comparable to a device wide theme system.

They have the typical android apps where you can change how an app looks, but nothing that is a system

Re: Re: Re: Samsung messages

meself — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 05:57:54 GMT

Not sure exactly i see mention of whats in beta which is subject to change

Re: Re: Samsung messages

SenseiKayJayy — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 06:25:35 GMT

Ohh meself i PRAY YOUR RIGHT!! 😲 what if samsung get rid of themes? No lets not think like that.😂😂 but yes i really hope your right about that one. If so then i wouldn't care that they discontinued their messages

Samsung Messages EOL on July 6?

FAUguy — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 09:20:04 GMT

I've always used Samsung Messages since the Note 2, and currently use it on my S22 Ultra and S25 Ultra. I've tried Google Messages before and don't really care for it. Today I got this notice when going into app saying that Samsung Messages will be discontinued on July 6th. It would be nice to clear this from the top. But does this mean the app will no longer work (it having an internal way to no longer launch) or that Samsung will just stop provide software updates? Hopefully the app can continue to work past this July 6 date even if it isn't being supported anymore.

Re: Samsung Messages EOL on July 6?

PFlan — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 09:29:54 GMT

It most likely will stop being able to launch my friend. You will most likely need to switch over to Google Messages, or potentially some other messaging app that supports RCS. I wish Samsung Messages would have been updated to support RCS but sadly this isn't the case.

Re: Samsung messages

PFlan — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 09:32:47 GMT

Most likely not unfortunately, since those themes take place inside of OneUI Samsung's own native launcher for the Galaxy phones. Since Google Messages isn't built inside of OneUI as a native app you will not be able to use Samsung Themes to customize it like Messages.

Re: Re: Re: Samsung messages

PFlan — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 09:34:52 GMT

Don't worry, Samsung probably wouldn't get rid of themes because plenty of people use it, it most likely makes them a decent bit of money in paid purchase from the Galaxy Store, and also all those theme elements are part of OneUI, Samsung's own launcher so there would be no need to take any of that functionality away....from what I can think of anyways...

Re: Samsung Messages EOL on July 6?

becksiiana — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 09:39:15 GMT

It will no longer work. They say its mandatory to switch. Was watching a few videos on it for myself to understand whats really going on

Google messages?

sanzinterro — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 13:49:30 GMT

Samsung do you dislike your customers? Because I personally enjoy Samsung messenger because of the THEMES THAT MATCH THE REST OF MY PHONE. WHY DO YOU DISLIKE US.

Re: Google messages?

CEParsons — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 10:02:53 GMT

Hi there, the Members community is a user-to-user tech support forum. You can only reach peer users by posting here.

To reach someone at Samsung and make feature requests, you will need to use the Members app on a Galaxy device, visit the support tab, and navigate to "send feedback."

As a peer user, I understand how disappointing this change can be. However, it isn't totally unexpected.

Samsung announced in 2024 that they would be transitioning to Google Messages as the default messaging app. At this point, Samsung has given users 2 years to make transition themselves. They are now enforcing the change.

Unfortunately, the transition away from Samsung Messages seems to be a decision based on infrastructure more than anything else. Because the US lacks a consistently accessible carrier-based RCS infrastructure, Samsung Messages has been unable to offer a fully-featured modern messaging experience to date.

If you don't want to use Google Messages, you don't have to. Alternative SMS apps like Textra, Chomp, and Handcent remain available in the Play Store.

Re: Google messages?

Dan2023 — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 10:12:05 GMT

I'll agree with you here because it is the one thing that I miss about Samsung Messages; however, Google Messages has many, many more features than Samsung Messages and is, therefore, IMHO, the better messaging app.

Re: Google messages?

Srb79 — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 10:16:55 GMT

The RCS capabilities of Samsung Messaging relies on the carrier supporting RCS, not the app. Kind of like the iPhone. If the carrier decides to stop supporting Jibe RCS on their end, then even if the app supports it, it will stop.

Google Messages has the API to use their own Jibe servers so it doesn't need to rely on the carrier.

This is probably the carriers passing the burden of Android RCS to Google and only supporting the ones for the iPhone instead of supporting 2 implementations.