• Verizon is abandoning its Message+ application in favor of Google Messages.

• Google Messages offers advanced RCS SMS sending features.

• Apple enabling RCS for iPhones promotes SMS compatibility between iPhones and Android.

Google Messages is a fantastic app first released on phones in 2014, and many users consider it the leading texting app on Android devices. Likewise, SMS RCS support was first added to Messages in 2018; it depended on carrier support. In 2019, Google went a step ahead and created Jibe, a global RCS provider that supports the protocol even if the user’s carrier does not support it. This first step towards RCS gave Google a major head start in the field, leading phone makers like Samsung is moving its users away from their own messaging app and Googles. For Verizon phone owners who are still using the outdated Verizon Message+ app, which was supposed to be shut down today, users now have another month before leaving it all behind.

Verizon has already announced that he would completely shut down his messaging app by November 7, which is today, and that he began abandoning the app on October 2. However, according to The Droid’s LifeVerizon’s support page was recently edited to indicate that Message+ would be completely discontinued on December 9th, not November 7th. Verizon is asking its customers to switch their default messaging app to Google Messages and that it is discontinuing the app due to the fact that Google Messages provides a more modern RCS messaging experience than Verizon Message+. Once the application is completely closed, no more messages can be sent or received through the client.

RCS is the next generation messaging protocol

Verizon announced in 2021 that, from 2022, all its Android devices would be equipped 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-Mobiles partnership with Google Messages on Android smartphones. For over half a decade previously, Verizon had been working on its own carrier-specific RCS protocol. We even wrote about Verizons brings RCS messaging to Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL phones in 2018.

The biggest news this year regarding smartphone brands and RCS messaging adoption was Apple’s decision to activate the protocol for iPhones. Starting with iOS 18, iPhones are capable of receiving RCS messages, making it easier than ever to send text messages between iPhones and Android devices. This news made Google so happy that it practically made an iOS ad during the summer. With Fully encrypted RCS iPhone chats in progressThe future of basic texting has taken a big step forward, and it’s a good thing all remaining Verizon Message+ users need to make the switch.