[com.google.android.apps.messaging] Cannot use RCS

[yajo]

Affected app
Name: Google Messages
Package id: com.google.android.apps.messaging

Describe the bug
I cannot enable RCS after installing /e/OS (with microg) on my phone (Samsung Galaxy A72).

To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. Install https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.ims
2. Install https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.messaging
3. Open it.
4. Set it as default messages app.
5. Tap on user icon.
6. Settings.
7. General.
8. RCS chats.
9. It says RCS is not available for this device.

Expected behavior
Available.

Screenshots

System
Android Version: 14
Custom ROM: /e/OS 2.9-a14-20250322478432-community-a72q

microG
microG Core version: 0.3.6.244735-dirty
microG Self-Check results: All ticked

Additional context
With official Samsung ROM I was able to use RCS.

[hmmistic]

microG doesn't support RCS

[GargantuanSquid]

I had heard RCS is not a totally open standard

[lucasmz-dev]

RCS is kind of a mess IMO and not enough of an improvement over SMS, I prefer WhatsApp than it to be honest, of course XMPP, Signal or Matrix over that. You can choose to deregister from it, at least from Google, to prevent potential delivery issues.

I believe they've also been caught with blocking issues with Play Integrity or something like that.

[BurhanBudak]

I had heard RCS is not a totally open standard

Absolutely, we don't listen to people who say it's open and say Apple is worse. Google has no right to be like Apple and tries to sell RCS as a walled garden. Defenders of RCS will just say the api is open but it's only open for Business and carriers.

Best solution would be ot tap into Apple RCS solution, the less Google influence the better or the carriers finally take over.

[BurhanBudak]

RCS is kind of a mess IMO and not enough of an improvement over SMS, I prefer WhatsApp than it to be honest, of course XMPP, Signal or Matrix over that. You can choose to deregister from it, at least from Google, to prevent potential delivery issues.

I believe they've also been caught with blocking issues with Play Integrity or something like that.

Registering RCS demands G-Apps, I tried before and did a tutorial here but Google implemented the fingerprint system, with the old SN we could backup a whole app to a microG system. So it's a blackbox.

Screw Google, we can wait for a proxy service like Beeper, or just find a old iPhone that can be jailbroken for a iMessage server.

[BurhanBudak]

With new PI, according to XDA developers, it looks like Google has detached the RCS service from Play Integrity.

[BurhanBudak]

microG doesn't support RCS

microG doesn't support activation but RCS works like another IM app, microG can handle the push notification and sending messages when it used Safety Net.

Edit: with the recent changes and PIF ending the app now only shows verification pending, so it's halfway from being able to use RCS.