How to power Google Messages to make use of SMS texts when RCS fails

Just this morning, I used to be sitting in my automobile ready for Alternate Side of the Street parking to finish (a dance that many car-owning New Yorkers go through) and texted my companion to return take his flip. As regular, I used the Messages app on my Pixel 6 cellphone to contact him and waited for the same old reply (“On my way!” or “Be there in a few!”), however after about 4 minutes or so, I spotted that I hadn’t had a response. When I checked the app, I noticed that the textual content hadn’t been despatched — as an alternative, there was a tiny message saying my companion’s cellphone was off and asking if I needed to ship an SMS / MMS as an alternative.

What?

I selected to ship the SMS and bought a direct reply (proving that the cellphone was not off). What was the issue? I’m not completely certain, however Google Messages makes use of RCS, an internet protocol that Google has been making an attempt to make an ordinary — and for some purpose, the app had apparently determined that my companion’s Pixel was not accessible.

Google has been making plenty of noise about Messages these days and has even made it extra pleasant when messaging with iPhones. But clearly, there are nonetheless kinks.

If you employ Google Messages to your chats (somewhat than Chat, or Hangouts, or no matter) and, for some purpose, your Messages app decides that you may’t ship an RCS textual content, right here’s a function that you could be need to allow — simply in case. It will be certain that you don’t need to examine whether or not or not your textual content has gone out; as an alternative, it’s going to robotically ship your message through the less-secure however still-available SMS / MMS protocol. Once RCS is offered once more, it’s going to change again. (These instructions are for a Pixel 6 with Android 12 — as typical with Android, YMMV.)

• Open the Messages app, faucet the three dots within the high proper nook of the primary display screen, and choose Settings
• Select Chat options

Grid View

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  In Settings, choose Chat options.
  
  

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  Toggle on “Automatically resend as text”
  
  

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  Read the warning, after which faucet on “Allow.”
  
  

• Find Automatically resend as textual content (SMS/MMS) and toggle it on
• When you toggle on the function, you’ll get a warning that messages despatched as SMS/MMS aren’t end-to-end encrypted however that messages will change again when the chat options reconnect. If that’s okay with you, choose Allow.

And that’s it! I just like the safety and media options that include the Message app’s RCS protocol, however once I ship a textual content, I undoubtedly need it to undergo asap. (Otherwise, I’d ship an e mail — or possibly a pleasant snail mail word.) If you agree, you could need to guarantee that this function is toggled on.