If you live in the United States and you’re planning to get your hands on either a Galaxy Z Fold 6 or Z Flip 6, which are the most recent smartphones released by the company, you might notice something very different when the device finally gets to you. You won’t find Samsung Messages, which you might have gotten used to if you’re a Samsung loyalist. Instead, you’ll see Google Messages, the stock Android choice, sitting pretty in its place.
Well, it seems like Samsung has committed to dropping Samsung Messages as the default messaging app on its Galaxy smartphones (thanks, 9to5Google), and instead, will go with Google Messages. However, at the moment, this change is only applicable to Galaxy smartphones in the United States. Exactly why Samsung is doing this is hard to put my finger on, but it is an interesting change to make.
The thing is, it’s not like Samsung Messages is dead. At least, not yet. It won’t be preloaded anymore, but you can still go to the Galaxy Store and get it if you’re really in love with it like that. However, it does seem that getting it through this method is going to exclude certain features, which basically makes the app even less compelling than before. I wouldn’t be surprised if the sunset is on the horizon for Samsung’s app.
Pick A Side, Samsung: Keep Things Simple Or Let Me Uninstall Default Apps
To be honest, I’m a huge fan of this change, though I know not everyone is in the same boat as me. When I owned a Google Pixel XL, I was in love with how simple the software was. I had all the stock Android apps that I could need, each getting hit with regular updates, and the general experience was pretty clean since I only had as many apps as Android needed.
When I switched to my Samsung Galaxy Note 10+, I was a little irked having the Galaxy Store and Play Store, Samsung Pass and Google Autofill, Bixby and Google Assistant, Samsung Internet and Google Chrome — I could go on — all on a single device, especially when I never used Samsung’s options. I would prefer a more streamlined experience where I don’t need to battle between default app choices. All I need is one app to do the job.
But I understand that Samsung is trying to build an ecosystem and put people’s reliance on its first-party apps, especially when they might be able to do the job well. However, I’m not one of the people who needs them. Either let me have one app for each task, or give me the chance to uninstall one of the duplicates in peace. That’s all I ask for.