I wanted to share an issue I ran into recently with my new Samsung A36 5G (which I got on 6/16/25, switching from an A15) and how I ultimately fixed it.
My main messaging app preference has always been Samsung Messages due to its awesome theming capability. I use a Samsung theme, and I love how it integrates seamlessly into the Samsung Messages app, making the whole phone feel cohesive. On my old A15, I used Samsung Messages without a hitch and assumed I'd continue doing so on my new A36 5G.
However, when I set up my new A36 5G, I noticed something odd: Samsung Messages didn't come pre-installed. I had to manually download it from the Galaxy Store and set it as my default. After doing this, I started having problems sending what I'd describe as 'larger messages' (not necessarily huge files, but messages that seemed to exceed basic SMS limits) on Boost Mobile. I thought it might be a service issue, and even Boost Mobile's support initially suggested a SIM swap.
But it turns out, the problem wasn't a service issue. It seems to be a compatibility issue related to the messaging app itself. When I switched back to Google Messages, the problem immediately resolved, and I could send these larger messages without any trouble.
The downside, though, is that with Google Messages, I lose that deep theming integration that I love. Only my keyboard carries the theme; the rest of the app UI doesn't match my Samsung theme, which is a real bummer.
This situation highlights a trade-off: I got the functionality I needed by switching to Google Messages (likely due to its stronger RCS implementation that Boost Mobile seems to prefer), but I lost the visual consistency that Samsung Messages provides with its theming.
My request/feedback: It would be great if Samsung Messages could maintain full compatibility and functionality for messaging, especially given its superior theming integration for those of us who invest in Samsung themes. Or, if Google Messages could offer more robust theming options to align with Samsung's ecosystem.
Hopefully, this helps anyone else running into similar issues, and maybe this feedback can lead to better integration in the future.
Themes are just cosmetic, not functional. However, with the new Samsung messages, to send larger messages, you have to turn on the RCS feature. It is not on by default and if you do not have RCS on, Samsung Messages has a character limit to SMS (where I don't believe Google Messages does) if you want changes to Google Messages, you need to contact the developers of Google Messages, as it's not Samsung's responsibility.
I know themes are simply cosmetic, it was an observation. Also the a36 did not come with Samsung messages preloaded and I downloaded it from the Galaxy Store. I have since reviewed that products description and it actually states that the downloaded version will not support RCS. This was confirming the fact that the option did not exist as part of settings, as you advised me to find and enable. Thank you though, I was merely putting this out there since I wasn't able to find the solution anywhere else. Not my service provider or even Samsung support accurately recognized the underlying lack of functionality that Samsung Messages has now that they are moving away from it and toward Google Messages as the native messenger on their devices.
Samsung was phasing out their messaging app. RCS only exist in the version that was pre installed on the S25. They added a legacy version without RCS for download from the Galaxy store only compatible with certain models. Eventually, they will let that die too. Google messages has limited themes for individual chats.
