Verizon's proprietary Google Messages alternative isn't dead yet

Key Takeaways

• Verizon is discontinuing its Message+ app in favor of Google Messages.
• Google Messages offers advanced RCS texting features.
• Apple enabling RCS for iPhones promotes texting compatibility between iPhones and Androids.

Google Messages is a fantastic app that first launched on phones in 2014, and many users consider it the primary texting app on Android devices. Likewise, RCS texting support was first added to Messages in 2018; it was dependent on carrier support. In 2019, Google jumped ahead of the curve and created Jibe, a global RCS provider that supports the protocol even if a user’s carrier doesn’t support it. This initial jump on RCS has given Google a major head start in the realm, and that has led to phone manufacturers like Samsung pushing its users away from their own messaging app and to Google’s. For Verizon phone owners that are still using the outdated Verizon Message+ app, which was set to shut down today, users now have another month before leaving it all behind.

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Finally, one messaging app to rule them all

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Verizon previously announced that it would fully shut down its messagIng app by November 7, which is today, and it started discontinuing the app on October 2. However, according to Droid Life, Verizon’s support page changed recently to say that Message+ would be fully discontinued on December 9, not November 7. Verizon is instructing its customers to switch their default messaging app to Google Messages and that it is discontinuing the app due to Google Messages providing a more modern RCS messaging experience than Verizon Message+. After the app is fully shut down, no more messages can be sent or received through the client.

RCS is the next-gen texting protocol

Source: Verizon

Verizon announced back in 2021 that, as of 2022, all of its Android devices would come with Google Messages downloaded and RCS enabled by default. This gave Google a stronghold on major US carriers, as Verizon joined AT&T and T-Mobile’s partnership with Google Messages on Android smartphones. For over half-a-decade before that, Verizon had been working on its own carrier-specific RCS protocol. We even wrote about Verizon’s bringing of RCS messaging to Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL phones back in 2018.

The biggest news that came out of this year regarding smartphone brands and RCS messaging adoption was Apple’s decision to enable the protocol for iPhones. Starting with iOS 18, iPhones are able to receive RCS messages, making texting between iPhones and Android devices more streamlined than ever before. This news made Google so happy that it practically made an iOS ad over the summer. With fully encrypted iPhone RCS chats on their way, the future of basic texting has taken a massive leap, and it’s a good thing that any remaining Verizon Message+ users have to make the switch.