Google Messages: Beware of This Feature That Could Make You Lose Your Messages!

Be careful if you disable this option in Google Messages, you might lose important data! The internet giant is now displaying a warning in the app.

Apple has finally agreed to support RCS (Rich Communication Services) with iOS 18, after years of resistance. Meanwhile, Google continues to enhance its Google Messages app, making it increasingly similar to popular messaging services like WhatsApp and Signal.

Google Messages includes RCS, which offers advanced features like sending images, videos, and files, creating group chats, and seeing when a message is read or when someone is typing. However, disabling RCS could lead to the loss of important data, and Google has recently added a warning about this in the app.

RCS is a communication protocol designed to replace outdated SMS and MMS messaging. Developed since 2012 by major telecom companies, RCS is more sophisticated and feature-rich than SMS, with capabilities similar to apps like WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram, and iMessage. Unlike SMS, which uses the 2G cellular network, RCS operates over the internet via mobile data.

Like SMS, it isn't tied to any specific company or particular app, unlike WhatsApp, Messenger, or iMessage. You just need to use a compatible app, for example Google Messages, to exchange messages instantly, regardless of the mobile carrier. It's not a proprietary format but an open protocol. Essentially, it combines all the advantages of a standardized protocol like SMS with those of a "private" and modern messaging app.

You can disable RCS in your messaging app's settings, but be careful, doing so might cause you to lose access to your group chats in Google Messages. This loss occurs 30 days after disabling the protocol.

To prevent issues, Google now displays a warning in its latest app version: "You cannot send or receive messages in RCS group chats for now. You will be excluded from all RCS group chats after thirty days."

If you're planning to switch phones, particularly from an Android to an iPhone, make sure that RCS is properly disabled on your old smartphone. If not, your old device might continue receiving messages for several days without you knowing.