Google Messages rival is back from the dead and getting even better

Samsung couldn't bring itself to kill its Messages app apparently and a slew of new features are rumored to breathe new life into it.

The South Korean giant's interest in Samsung Messages had been waning since 2021, which is when it started showing preference for Google Messages. The company removed the app from the Play Store earlier this year, which coincided with its announcement that the app was being phased out. Verizon also briefly removed RCS support for the app, before reinstating it.

The app remained available to download on Samsung's Galaxy Store and the company continued deploying new features to it. Considering Samsung had said those who already had the app on their phone would be able to continue using it, the addition of a new features didn't seem all that surprising, even though apps that are on the brink of retirement are usually neglected by developers.

Samsung Messages is set to get even better with One UI 8, which hints that it's not going anywhere. When analyzing the version of the app that will ship with One UI 8, Android Authority found that the app will gain many of the features that are already found on Google Messages and WhatsApp.

The first feature is Birthday Reminders, which, as the name suggests, will ping you on a saved contact’s birthday to prompt you to send them a greeting.

Samsung Messages may also let you share your live location with others, but only if you have a Samsung account, as the feature will not work without the Samsung Find app. You will be able to turn down a live location sharing invitation, stop sharing your live location, share your live location indefinitely, and be notified when someone declines to view your live location.

Another feature that will be copied from Google Messages is emoji and sticker reactions. This will allow you to respond to messages with custom stickers.

Lastly, the Now Brief feature, which provides personalized information to users, will inform users about phony messages that were blocked.

If Samsung were going to follow through on its announcement to phase out its Messages app, it surely wouldn't dedicate time and resources to creating new features for it.