We thought Samsung Messages was being retired – but it could now get 4 new features to take on Google Messages

• More updates are apparently on the way to Samsung Messages
• Previously, it looked like the app was on the way out
• Google Messages was the default messaging app on the Galaxy S25

We feared the worst for Samsung Messages when the Galaxy S25 series launched without the app on board – Google Messages was preinstalled instead – but it seems Samsung Messages isn’t actually going away, as a major batch of new updates have been spotted.

These updates haven’t been officially announced or pushed out to users, but the team at Android Authority has seen them in the latest app code. The signs are that Samsung is keen to keep the rival to Google Messages alive after all.

The features that have been discovered include birthday reminders for the people in your contacts list, live location sharing (also apparently on the way to Google Messages), and support for emoji and sticker reactions to messages.

Another upcoming feature that’s been spotted links Samsung Messages to Now Brief, the AI-powered update panel on the latest Samsung phones. It appears that Now Brief will soon be able to show alerts about suspicious, malicious, and blocked messages.

What happens next?

That’s quite the feature dump, including some big new upgrades, even if it’s not live yet. It doesn’t really fit with the idea of an app that’s on the way out – and you might remember it got full support for RCS chats back in February as well.

It’s mixed messaging from Samsung, because there’s no doubt that Samsung Messages was, genuinely, on the way out. Samsung even used the word “sunsetting” in a statement issued in January, as the app was removed from the Google Play Store.

You can still get at Samsung Messages through the Galaxy Store, however, if you’ve got a Samsung phone. We’ll have to wait and see whether these new features come with any fresh announcements from Samsung when they actually see the light of day.

It’s also going to be interesting to see if Samsung Messages appears on the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Samsung Galaxy Flip 7, due in July. The 2024 versions of those phones were actually the first to come without Samsung Messages preloaded.

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Dave is a freelance tech journalist who has been writing about gadgets, apps and the web for more than two decades. Based out of Stockport, England, on TechRadar you’ll find him covering news, features and reviews, particularly for phones, tablets and wearables. Working to ensure our breaking news coverage is the best in the business over weekends, David also has bylines at Gizmodo, T3, PopSci and a few other places besides, as well as being many years editing the likes of PC Explorer and The Hardware Handbook.