Samsung has been shipping its Galaxy phones and tablets with its in-house Messages app for years, but the company has stopped doing that recently in some markets. The Samsung Messages app no longer comes pre-installed on the company’s new smartphones, at least in the USA.
Samsung Messages not pre-installed on Galaxy Z Flip 6 and Galaxy Z Fold 6 in USA
Samsung has stopped pre-installing its Samsung Messages app on its phones in the USA, starting with the Galaxy Z Flip 6 and the Galaxy Z Fold 6. These devices run One UI 6.1.1 out of the box and use Google Messages as the default messaging app. The company confirmed this move via its official forum.
In other markets, including Canada and Europe, the company still ships its phones with Samsung Messages. Galaxy users can still install the Samsung Messages app from the Google Play Store.
The writing has been on the wall for this move since 2022 when Samsung started shipping its phones with Google Messages as the default messaging app in some regions. While the company shipped its phones with Samsung Messages pre-installed, it wasn’t the default messaging option. This was around the same time Google started focusing on RCS.
Even though Samsung Messages supports RCS, the South Korean firm is pushing the Google Messages app to its users. Google might have made a deal with Android OEMs, including Samsung, to push Google Messages as the default messaging app on their phones and tablets for consistency and improving RCS.
Watch One UI 6.1.1 in our video below.
Google and Samsung started pushing Apple to include support for RCS over the past couple of years. The European Union directed Apple to include RCS support on iPhones, and starting iOS 18, compatible iPhones will support RCS for a much better messaging experience when communicating with Android devices.
Ahead of the public release of iOS 18, Google might have worked with Samsung to make Google Messages the default messaging app for a consistent experience for consumers.
