I am wondering if Samsung Messages is still supported by Samsung. I have it on my S25 Ultra but didn't know if I should switch to Google Messages or something else?
Google Messages is the new default messenger for samsung devices. Samsung messenger is being gradually phased out, and will likely be discontinued entirely at some point.
Google Messages offers broad support for RCS and many other things that make it a better, more feature-rich option.
Possibly true but it doesn't really work with the rest of Samsung's theme thing going on which really makes the phone kind of look I don't know the word I'm looking for but you might know what I'm talking about when everything looks nice and themed and is a particular way and then you have your messages up just looks plain and Bland and garbage just because of RCs and since most of us cannot root our phones anymore I'm assuming using something like substratum isn't a thing either I mean I have an s23 and I've been trying to find a way to root that thing since it came out and there's no way that I know of I don't even know if that's a thing anymore so I guess themes are going to eventually be phased out too??
There is no "possibly" about it. It is factual that Gmessages is the new default. It is objectively superior in terms of functionality.
Samsung's design language changes from UI7 forward are specifically designed to mesh with Google's design language. They are made to go together.
As for Galaxy Themes... well, they are a thing. Let's just say I don't personally use them.
Rooting is still technically possible, but is not advised as doing so will irreversibly trip Knox and permanently disable a number of features on your device.
It's still supported, but I had to download it. Samsung Messages is REQUIRED if you want to use Bixby on a Galaxy Watch to send texts. Google Messages is not supported.
Additionally, I experienced a deprecated version of Samsung Messages after installing it since I had it on my S23 Ultra and upgraded to a S25 Ultra. Their Samsung Messages app nolonger has the links at the bottom of the app that greatly improves one's ability to manage their text messages. The links were named "Conversations", "Recent", and "Contacts". "The Contacts" link was a modified view of your contacts in where you could selectively send to an individual or include others in your contacts to be part of the same conversation. I don't find anything similar to these capabilities in Google's Messages app. Unfortunately, Google Messages is the default SMS app on the S25 Ultra. This has left a gap for me since my messages usage flow was highly efficient due to the thoughtful features Samsung had in their Messages app. Alas, this is no longer the case with their new version devoid of these time saving features (although their "Categories" feature stil remains - thank goodness!). Otherwise, if I didn't switch back to Samsung Messages, I would be forced to endure Google's view of workflow efficiency which is inferior from the usage flow perspective even when comparing it to the current slimmed down version of Samsung's Messages app.
Samsung messages will get updated with 8.5 and it supports RCS and Samsung messages is integrated way better. I don't think it's finish or bring supported.
