Samsung was thought to have abandoned its Messages app over the past few years, but the company seems to have a renewed interest in it, with RCS having been enabled last year, and some more new features being spotted in the pipeline.
For Samsung Messages users, the company’s focus on Google Messages has not been subtle. As of 2024, Samsung was not only pre-installing Google Messages on Galaxy phones sold in the US, but had stopped including Samsung Messages altogether. Samsung was even directly telling users to switch to Google Messages.
That’s why it came as a shock that, starting with the Galaxy S25, Samsung Messages had suddenly been updated with RCS support.
Now, Android Authority has spotted some further developments.
A leaked version of the Samsung Messages app meant for use in One UI 8 suggests a handful of new features coming to the app. This includes support for birthday reminders, something that Google Messages already supports.
- It’s %s’s birthday today! Let them know that you’re thinking of them.
- It’s %1$s and %2$s’s birthday! Send something special?
- It’s %s’s birthday today! Send something special?
Beyond that, there are also some new location sharing features apparently in development. The code, seen below, suggests this will work with Samsung’s Find app.
- Share your location in a snap
- Easily share your location with loved ones without copying the address.
- To view %s’s location, you need to install the Samsung Find app.
- To share your location, you need to install the Samsung Find app.
- Install %s?
- To view %s’s location, you need to sign in to
your Samsung account.- %s’s location is visible.
- You declined to view %s’s location.
- %s stopped sharing their location with you.
- %s shared their location with you.
- Indefinitely
- %s can now see your location.
- %s declined to view your location.
- You stopped sharing your location with %s.
Other strings suggest that emoji and sticker reactions are coming, as well as Now Brief integration for alerts around suspicious or malicious messages that were blocked.
- Get suggestions for emojis to add to text bubbles to make your messages more expressive.
- 4513
- 4512
- 4514
This all sounds interesting, but it may not debut until One UI 8 launches later this year. What’s strange, though, is this sudden and mostly unexplained shift regarding Samsung Messages.
More on Samsung:
- Galaxy S25 Edge finally debuts for $1,099 with 3,900 mAh battery, 5.8mm thin
- Samsung’s biggest One UI 7 mistake had nothing to do with the delays
- Galaxy Z Fold 7’s thinner design includes wider display with slimmer bezels, leak claims
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