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Google Messages won’t work on uncertified phones in a few months (Updated)
August 16, 2025
Update: June 17, 2025 (12:10 AM ET): Yet another Google app could soon join Messages in ending its support for uncertified Android phones. As discovered by9to5Google, Google Duo may cease to function on “unsupported devices” — devices that would not be compliant to run Google Mobile Services — in the future.
While it’s unclear when Google will strip the functionality of its video messaging app from unsupported phones, there’s no telling if this is the last of Google’s messaging app suite that will be affected.
Original article: July 06, 2025 (11:24 AM ET): Google Messages may soon stop working with uncertified Android phones, including those made by HUAWEI. New code snippets found byXDA Developersin version 7.7.203 of the app suggest the app won’t support devices it hasn’t officially certified to run Google Mobile Services (GMS) after July 03, 2025.
Related:Everything you need to know about RCS messaging
HUAWEI agreed to migrate its users to Messages in 2018 when Google was trying to build a critical mass of RCS adoption. However, when the US government put the company on the Commerce Department’sEntity List in 2019, Google could no longer work with HUAWEI. Since then, new HUAWEI devices have shipped without any Google-made apps, including Messages. But that’s not to say people haven’t been able to get around the ban. Messages is one the few first-party apps you can easily sideload on phones that don’t have access to GMS since you don’t need a Google account to use it. That won’t be the case as of later this year.
XDAsuggests the upcoming restriction is likely tied to the fact Messages will supportend-to-end encryption. Were Google to continue to allow uncertified devices to run Messages, it would be difficult for the company to guarantee conversations involving uncertified devices weren’t compromised. The feature is currently in beta, but an official rollout could start sometime this year.
If you’re currently using Google Messages on an uncertified device, consider checking outone of these alternativesbefore the cutoff date.
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