AT&T’s Messaging App Is Officially Dead
Following Verizon’s decision to shut down its own text messaging app Message+ , AT&T has followed suit, or has technically already done so. Making good on its promise to shut down the AT&T Messages app by the end of 2024 , the carrier confirmed to CNET that it officially reached the end of its life on December 4th.
At the time of writing, the AT&T messaging app is not available in either the iPhone App Store or the Google Play Store. Cloud text backups are going away, but as with Verizon, all your texts will still be stored in your phone’s local storage. AT&T says they should automatically switch to your new default messaging app.
As for this new messaging app, AT&T offers Android users Google Message (iPhone users should already be on iMessage), which offers end-to-end encryption for other Google Message users. Once downloaded and opened, you should be prompted to set it as the default, but if not, you can change the default later in Settings. The exact process depends on what phone you have, but the option is usually found under Settings > Apps > Default SMS App .
Overall, this change shouldn’t take AT&T customers by surprise, as AT&T says it has been sending out closure messages monthly since around September. The shutdown also appears to be making significantly less noise online than Verizon, and it doesn’t appear in any of the top threads on the r/dumbphones subreddit, where passionate Verizon fans were voicing their complaints about the shutdown of Message+ earlier this week. The r/att subreddit is also silent on the shutdown, so most likely all the drama has passed.
As for the reason for the change, it is likely due to RCS, a new messaging standard that provides features such as typing indicators and high-resolution multimedia. Although RCS is a universal standard, there may be minor changes from company to company, especially when it comes to encryption or how text messaging or cross-platform communications work. Bringing users together in Google messages helps ensure that everyone is playing by the same rules, which reduces crashes.
However, there are alternatives if you prefer to disconnect your phone from Google .
The Best Non-Google Messaging Alternatives
Google’s alternatives to traditional text messaging are starting to disappear with the move to RCS, but if you’re willing to stick with SMS, Textra SMS is a popular alternative with a minimalist, easy-to-navigate interface. You’ll lose features like typing indicators and your texts won’t be encrypted, but the app is a convenient way to send text messages like you did in the good old days.
However, ideally you should supplement your text messages with an instant messaging app. These apps will only work when you have a data connection, but will likely have the strongest encryption possible. Popular options include WhatsApp , owned by Meta, and Signal , owned by a non-profit organization, although I personally like Line , a Japanese app that has access to some cute stickers not available on WhatsApp.