Samsung officially pulled the plug on Samsung Messages last month. When you get a Samsung Galaxy phone, a lot of apps are duplicated, and Messages was one of those apps. But since I keep Samsung’s apps on my phone, I have used Samsung Messages ever since getting my Galaxy S20 Ultra. It feels like home with all the One UI elements. Other apps like Google Messages felt totally unfamiliar and weird to use after using Messages for so many years. While I am currently using Microsoft’s SMS Organizer and have been using it for some time, it still feels out of place. Losing that One UI messaging layout was a bit too much for me, and I was not alone.
Turns out a developer has built an app that brings Samsung Messages back from the dead. The app is called Messages by OzarksMade, and it keeps the familiar Samsung-style SMS, MMS, and RCS on your phone alive. But there’s a catch!
I started missing Samsung Messages
A One UI habit you did not realize you had
While you won’t care much about which camera or calendar app you are using, stock or not, when it comes to messaging, it is different. Simply because you interact with the messaging app more often than other apps. We receive delivery messages, OTPs, messages from friends and family members, bank messages, and whatnot.
Samsung Messages wasn’t just another messaging app sitting on your phone. It matched the Galaxy theme; it had that satisfying rounded-card look and little touches like conversation categories that made it genuinely more useful than its alternatives. All these features made Samsung Messages better than Google Messages, for me, if not for everyone.
However, as soon as Samsung Messages was removed from the Play Store, that familiar interface, those features, and everything were taken away from us overnight. The good news is that a few weeks after the shutdown, a developer released something called Messages by OzarksMade, which attempts, convincingly, to recreate what Samsung dropped.
Messages by OzarksMade look strikingly similar and stay true to the developer’s words on their website. You have rounded cards, the same collapsing title bar, chip-style category filters, and bubble styling that is clearly modeled from Samsung’s original design.
It even themes itself using your One UI color palette and Galaxy Theme, right down to the app icon on your home screen. Do note that it is not affiliated with Samsung in any official way, so treat it as a passion project rather than an official one. But what’s interesting is how the developer managed to make RCS work on this app.
Google doesn’t let third-party developers plug directly into its RCS network. So how does an indie app pull off read receipts and typing indicators? Well, I was also quite curious, like you may be right now, and the answer to this is what the developer calls Companion Mode.
Google Messages stays installed on your phone, running in the background as the RCS engine. On the other hand, Messages by OzarksMade becomes the app you actually open and use. It is essentially the same setup Samsung Messages relies on, since Galaxy phones have routed RCS through Google’s Jibe infrastructure.
It is in beta
You are required to join a Google group
The good thing is that it isn’t a bare-bones, quick clone of the Samsung Messages app. Based on the official feature list provided by the developer, the current build already covers group messaging, scheduled texts, a 30-day recycle bin for deleted messages, per-chat wallpapers, voice messages, dual SIM support with per-line colors, and conversation categories.
Additionally, you also get a few features that even the original app did not offer, like foldable-specific layouts that shift into a two-pane view on a Galaxy foldable. Business chatbots that render with their actual name and logo. If you have been tweaking Google Messages just to make it bearable, this app makes things much easier, as it keeps you in a familiar territory.
An important thing to note is that Messages by OzarksMade is currently in beta and is available in the U.S. Getting the beta app isn’t that straightforward. You are asked to join the Messages by OzarksMade Google group using the same Google account that’s on your phone before the Play Store listing even shows up.
Once that is done, you can get the app from the Play Store. The listing shows a price tag of $0.99, but as a beta tester, you will see a “Test Card, always approves” payment option that doesn’t actually charge you.
A good way to get back to what you love
Messages by OzarksMade, to me, looks like a good option if you are someone who just cannot live without Samsung Messages. It mimics Samsung’s branding and design closely. But there is also a chance that Samsung, at some point in time, will push back on it. If you are just curious, though, then you can join the beta bandwagon and give this app a try. For those who don’t mind switching to a different message app, there are several other alternatives that you can switch to.