Google Messages is set to stop working on uncertified Android phones in April 2021. Uncertified Android devices are those devices that run on Android, but skipped through or failed Google’s official certification process for Google Mobile Services.
These devices do not come with the mandatory Google apps, but the sellers of such devices usually have advisories on how users can sideload Google apps and service frameworks.
Google Messages is an app that remained immune from the fallout of those decisions. For one, Google Messages can easily be sideloaded if you did not have it pre-installed, and it didn’t need a Google sign-in to work on its own, so it would still work on all Android devices (including the new ones from Huawei).
But this is soon going to change. If you have an uncertified Android device, the app will not work. This is presumed to be an extension of the RCS End-to-End encryption rollout, as Google will not be able to guarantee if an uncertified device is not compromised.
