Samsung has decided to retire its native Samsung Messages app, effective July 2026. The move follows an April announcement that the app would lose text‑sending and receiving capabilities. While the app still offered deeper chat customization, Samsung has shifted its focus to Google Messages as the default messaging platform for Galaxy users.

Samsung will prompt users on compatible One UI versions to move to Google Messages, which will automatically pull existing conversations once set as the default. The transfer process may take up to a day, with some threads temporarily missing while the app re‑indexes data. Users in the U.S. can keep using Samsung Messages as an emergency fallback until the shutdown takes effect.

Although Samsung Messages will remain available for emergency contacts, the company notes that the U.S. discontinuation is the only region affected so far. Users who switch early can avoid a 48‑hour wait, as the migration completes automatically once Google Messages is set as default. After the final cutoff, the Samsung messaging app will become entirely non‑functional for text messaging today.