Google Duo and Messages may stop working on uncertified phones soon

This story was originally published 2021/01/20
4:50 a.m. PSTJan 20, 2021 and last update 2021/01/22
3:23 a.m. PSTJan 22, 2021.

Duo and Google Messages are some of the best communication apps that Google has ever released, so it’s no surprise that they are incredibly popular, even among people whose phones ship without Google apps. Unfortunately, it looks like these uncertified phones will soon be unable to run Duo and Messages. Developers XDA and 9to5Google have uncovered strings that reveal apps will soon stop working on unsupported devices.

<string name="ip_compliance_warning_message">On March 31, Messages will stop working on uncertified devices, including this one.</string>

The Messages channel is as clean as it gets. If Google meets the certification requirements for Messages, users of uncertified phones may soon see the following message in the app: “On March 31, Messages will stop working on non-certified devices, including this one.” This should only affect a small portion of Android phones that don’t come with Google apps, like recent Huawei phones, phones with Chinese ROMs and of course custom ROMs. XDA developers suspect that this decision comes after the rollout of RCS end-to-end encryption, as the company cannot guarantee that an uncertified device will not be compromised.

<string name="grace_period_notification_body">"Because you're using an unsupported device, Duo will unregister your account on this device soon. Download your Clips and call history to avoid losing them."</string>

<string name="grace_period_notification_title">Duo is going away soon</string>

Google Duo users with uncertified phones will see a similar message saying, “Because you are using an incompatible device, Duo will cancel your account on that device soon. Download your extracts and call history to avoid losing them. . ” While these channels do not explicitly mention “uncertified” devices, 9to5Google says a review of the code reveals the change is related to “GmsCompilance.” GMS is short for Google Mobile Services, the package responsible for bringing Google’s core apps and important APIs, including Play Services, to certified phones. Unlike Messages, there is no firm deadline yet.

If Google succeeds with the change, people with uncertified phones will soon have to look for other solutions. Signal could perhaps replace both: it supports sending and receiving SMS in addition to its text and video chat service.

The channels first appeared in the beta of Google Messages 7.2 and Duo 123.