David Imel / Android Authority
TL; DR
- AT&T is making Google Messages the standard chat app for all of its Android phones.
- The move could help bolster RCS news in the US.
Google Messages – and especially RCS – will get a big boost in the US. Google has announced that AT&T Messages will be the default chat app on all of its Android phones in the United States.
The move brings Wi-Fi messaging, higher quality media attachments, tap indicators, drop-in, drop-out group chats, and end-to-end encryption for individual messages (once it’s in place) to many AT&T users. for more users).
AT & T’s move comes about three months after T-Mobile made Messages the standard app for its Android customers. Verizon (Disclaimer: This author writes for Verizon’s Engadget) is the only major US provider that hasn’t set Messages as the default app on Google-based devices.
Continue reading: The best chat and messenger apps for Android
This shift will only be felt as more AT&T customers buy new phones with messages set by default. Still, it could significantly improve the adoption of RCS technology, which so far has not lived up to its (unofficial) billing as the successor to SMS and Android’s iMessage alternative. The need for acceptance by the individual providers, a lack of iPhone support and inconsistent implementations all have only limited acceptance. They are more likely to use Facebook Messenger than RCS.
Maybe it arrived just in time. AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon recently discontinued an initiative aimed at enabling cross-network RCS messaging. While the networks all said they would continue to be committed to supporting the technology, they didn’t say how they would support the format. The AT&T maneuver could explain how – cellular operators seem to be relying on Google Messages as the “glue” that puts Android users on the same page.
