Google Messages to stop working on uncertified Android phones in April



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Google Messages is one of the most popular apps from Google, and many people use it every day without even realizing that they are using it. The name is rather generic and many devices come with it preinstalled as the default SMS and RCS client. Most of the users should be happy with the functions provided by the app and have no real reason to explore alternatives. But if any of the possibly upcoming changes materialize, they may have to look for alternatives, as new channels in the app suggest that Google Messages will stop working on uncertified Android phones in April 2021.

An APK teardown can often predict features that might arrive in a future update of an app, but it is possible that one of the features we mention here may not be available in a later release. Indeed, these features are currently not implemented in the live version and can be checked out at any time by the developers in a future version.

New strings have been spotted in Google Messages 7.2.203:

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

As the message clearly states, Messages will cease working on uncertified Android devices from March 31, 2021. Non-certified Android devices are devices that are running Android, but have bypassed or failed the official certification process of Google for Google mobile services. These devices do not come with mandatory Google apps, but the vendors of these devices usually have advice on how users can download Google apps and service frameworks. Google has put an end to such practices on the part of device manufacturers, but Google Messages as an app has remained immune to the fallout from these decisions. For one thing, Google Messages could easily be downloaded aside if you hadn’t preinstalled it, and it didn’t need a Google connection to work on its own, so it would still work on all Android devices (including new) from Huawei).

But that will now change. If you have an uncertified Android device, the app will not work. This is presumed to be an extension of the RCS end-to-end encryption deployment, as Google will not be able to guarantee that an uncertified device is not compromised, and the resulting conversation of users of those devices will not be compromised. in no way compromised. Considering the small size of a user base in the large world of Android devices active with GMS, this would be a small catch for Google to pull.

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