5 Samsung Messages features that are still missing from Google Messages

Samsung Messages is closing in a matter of weeks. Starting in July, the app will no longer be supported and Samsung will pressure users to switch to Google Messages. It turns out that Samsung Messages has a lot of dedicated fans among Android AuthoritySamsung readers, and all of you, have expressed your opinion in our comments about the features that Samsung’s app offers that Google’s doesn’t.

Google Messages has been adding shocking new features quite frequently lately – a new one trash folder last month, share location in real time weeks before, but there is still many things the app can’t do. Here are five features of Samsung Messages Android AuthorityCommenters say they will miss out on most once the app ends.

Samsung Messages allows users to extensively customize their chats, with options to manually choose chat colors and even set images as chat backgrounds. This feature has appeared in virtually everyone’s comments. Android Authority post mentioning the upcoming closure of Samsung Messages.

Google Messages doesn’t offer the same level of customization. You can edit the chat colors, but for now, that’s it. Fortunately, we have detected evidence in the Google Messages code that Custom chat backgrounds are being prepared.– Strings in a recent beta version of the Google app reference custom themes several times, including one that specifically mentions custom theme backgrounds.

That was a few weeks ago, so it’s entirely possible that we could see chat customization in Google Messages on par with what Samsung Messages offers when users are forced to make the switch. With any luck, the custom themes will transfer along with the message content, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.

Samsung Messages allows users to create folders for group chats, making it easy to group conversations about work, family life, hobbies, or whatever else is going on. While Google Messages can filter spam in its own view and now has a trash folder, it doesn’t support sorting conversations into categories.

Android Authority reader Jamie McMahon He actually values ​​this option more than chat themes, commenting that Google should “stop focusing on the ways we can change the appearance of our messages and focus on the ways we can organize them.” I would have to agree there.

One UI offers an option to have your phone vibrate every time you pick it up when you have missed calls or unread text messages. Commentator cris4wwf notes that that feature is not currently supported in Google Messages: with the “Notify me when phone is answered” setting enabled, Samsung phones will vibrate when there are unread messages in Samsung Messages, but not if there are unread messages in Google’s messaging app.

Users have been complaining about this functionality gap on Samsung’s forums for some time and the issue remains unresolved as of now. last month. Whether this is something on Google or Samsung’s side, ideally it will be fixed soon.

In Samsung Messages settings, an option called “Delete old messages” automatically deletes your oldest text messages once you’ve reached 1,000, preventing your chats from getting too long. Commentator greg.sirmon You are annoyed that Google Messages does not include any option to automatically delete old text messages, but only allows manual deletion of individual texts or entire text threads.

I’ve never been bothered by an excessively long chat backlog, but as someone who appreciates a tidy digital space, I can sympathize. I don’t see why Google Messages doesn’t offer options to automatically delete old messages.

A lot Android Authority Readers have said they are upset to see the failure of Samsung Messages, as Samsung’s app was significant competition for Google in the Android messaging space.

Of course, there are other text messaging clients on Android (fossify and Textra are two relatively popular options), not to mention great cross-platform options like Telegram and WhatsApp. But Samsung Messages started removing RCS last year, leaving Google Messages as the only RCS game available. With Samsung’s app set to disappear almost entirely this summer, that seems likely to be the case for the foreseeable future.