Samsung Messages is dying — here's the open-source alternative I'm replacing it with

Samsung Messages is going away — and this time for good, with the app officially set to be discontinued in July 2026. When I got my Galaxy S26 last month, Samsung Messages wasn’t even pre-installed. So, like most users, I trusted Samsung’s recommendation and started using Google Messages. It felt like the obvious next step, but sadly, it didn’t last very long.

The good thing is, I found something better: Fossify Messages. It’s a free, open-source app that focuses on simplicity without feeling barebones. Having used it for about a week, it feels like the next best thing to Samsung Messages.

Why Google Messages didn’t make the cut for me

I really tried to like Google Messages, and I truly gave it a fair shot. But the more I used Google’s texting app, the more it felt like it wasn’t built for me. Sure, those who love using Google apps and services may want it, but it didn’t click for me.

Let’s start with the design. Google Messages has a clean interface, but it’s also very … Google. And that instantly shows when I switch to it after using Samsung apps all day.

The bigger issue is the customization, or rather, the lack of it. The best you can do is change the chat bubble colors for individual conversations. You can’t change the background or the font — just the bubble. That’s it. The themes option lets you switch between light and dark modes, and while I personally love using a dark theme everywhere, I don’t like Google’s implementation. It’s that mix of gray and black that never quite feels right. Worse, there’s no way to tweak it.

Gemini is another part that doesn’t sit right with me. I get why it’s there, and I’m sure some people love it. But to me, it feels more distracting than helpful. I don’t need Gemini’s Magic Compose to perfect my messages. Messaging, in my opinion, should be simple and raw. Of course, Gemini can also generate images, pull up information from other Google apps, and answer any questions. All of that is impressive, but it’s not something I want inside my messaging app. If anything, I’m glad Google gives users the option to turn off Gemini entirely.

All of these things pushed me to look for an alternative, even if that meant giving up RCS. And honestly, I’m glad I did, because it led me to Fossify Messages.

What makes Fossify Messages worth switching to

Fossify Messages feels very different from both Google Messages and Samsung Messages. It doesn’t try to do everything, and that’s exactly why it works so well. It focuses on doing the basics really well, which is what text messaging should be all about. You get everything you actually need — SMS, MMS, group messaging, message scheduling, and a search bar. But there are no unnecessary features or AI clutter that get in your way. This simplicity is also what makes the app so lightweight and fast.

I also like the fact that Fossify Messages is completely free. This may not seem like much, but if you’ve ever used popular SMS apps like Pulse SMS or Textra, you know how rare that is. Those apps are great, no doubt, but they do push you toward paying — either to remove ads or unlock extra features. Fossify Messages is the exact opposite. You don’t come across any annoying banners or locked features while using the app.

What really makes it stand out, though, is that it’s open-source. It means anyone can look at the code to understand exactly what the app is doing behind the scenes. It also means the app isn’t built around collecting your data. In fact, Fossify Messages doesn’t require an account and works completely offline.

The small details Fossify Messages gets right

It’s not just the open-source nature or the clutter-free UI that sold me on Fossify Messages. Those things definitely piqued my curiosity enough to try it, but it’s the smaller details that kept me sticking around.

Take text selection, for instance. Fossify lets me select specific parts of a message, which, strangely, you can’t do in Google Messages. And it’s handy because it lets me grab a line, an address, or a number instead of copying the entire message. Another small but useful feature is the ability to lock the app with a PIN, pattern, or biometrics. This isn’t something that’s possible natively on my Galaxy phone, so I find it useful.

When it comes to customization, Fossify Messages doesn’t limit me to the standard light and dark themes. It offers options like Dark Red, White, Black & White, and a fully customizable mode. That custom option lets me tweak the text, background, and primary colors, as well as the app icon color. There’s even an option to change the font style, giving me complete control over how the app looks and feels. Sadly, there’s no option to change chat backgrounds like you can in Samsung Messages, which is a bit of a miss, but overall, it doesn’t give you much to complain about.

Finally, while Fossify Messages doesn’t offer cloud sync, it does give me local backups. That means if I ever switch phones, I can simply take my messages with me by creating a backup file. Of course, none of this is groundbreaking, but these are things that I found missing in Google Messages.

Samsung Messages remains hard to beat

As good as Fossify Messages is, Samsung Messages remains incredibly hard to beat. I still miss the ability to organize chats into categories and customize them with images from my phone’s gallery. Also, being a Samsung app, it paired perfectly with my Galaxy phone.

As for Google Messages, I can’t deny that RCS is a big reason to stick with it. Anyone who relies on RCS doesn’t really have much of a choice right now but to use Google Messages. For me, though, that trade-off isn’t a dealbreaker. And that’s exactly why Fossify Messages works so well for me.