Google Messages is quietly ditching a key RCS feature users rely on
Google is reportedly removing the option to disable RCS messaging for specific contacts in the Google Messages app. An APK teardown of a beta version revealed code strings indicating that the 'Only send SMS and MMS messages' toggle will be eliminated. This change will force users to either disable RCS entirely or use it for all conversations, removing a key tool for managing spam and communication preferences.
- ▪An APK teardown of a Google Messages beta version revealed that the toggle to force SMS/MMS for specific contacts is being removed.
- ▪Leaked code strings suggest Google will display a banner warning users to switch to RCS chats before the feature is fully disabled.
- ▪The removal of the per-contact toggle means users will no longer be able to selectively use SMS for specific conversations while keeping RCS enabled for others.
- ▪Android Police criticized the move, stating it limits user control and removes an effective method for preventing spam in the messaging app.
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Record
| Original publisher | Android Police |
| Canonical URL | https://www.androidpolice.com/google-messages-is-working-to-remove-a-key-rcs-messaging-feature/ |
| Publication time | Wed, 07 Oct 2026 04:29:18 GMT |
| Retrieval time | 2026-10-07T04:34:13.447Z |
| Last seen | 2026-10-07T04:34:13.447Z |
| Headline source | Publisher (no WeSearch rewrite) |
| Excerpt source | publisher body |
| Excerpt method | First ~120 words (~800 chars) of extracted publisher body, fair-use limited. |
| Summary | WeSearch · cerebras-chat (WeSearch summarizer) |
| Summary source text | contentText |
| Citation coverage | Summary is a WeSearch-generated derivative; primary citation is the original publisher URL. |
| Cluster | 7sjViJay369Z · 1 stories |
| Cluster logic | Grouped by semantic title/content similarity across sources within a rolling window. Same-publisher template collisions are excluded from coverage comparison. |
| Ranking reason | Story pages are not engagement-ranked. Hub feeds use recency, with optional source-diversified chronological ordering (cap consecutive stories per source). No personalized ranking. |
| Publisher visit | Yes — open original |
| Substitutes article? | No — link-out required for full text |
Rights status (four layers)
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| Indexing | May the item be indexed (stored, ranked, made findable)? | Allowed |
| Snippet | May a short excerpt of the publisher's text be shown? | Allowed |
| AI summary | May WeSearch generate its own short summary of the article? | Limited |
| Retrieval / RAG | May the content be exposed for third-party retrieval-augmented generation? | Not asserted |
| Model training | May the content be used to train AI models? | Not asserted |
| Commercial reuse | May the content be reused commercially? | Not permitted |
Basis: Derived from the published RSS/Atom feed. Contact: [email protected]. Reviewed: 2026-07-24.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Android Police.
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