Verizon to make Google’s Messages default app on Android devices from 2022

Verizon Communications will make Google’s Messages the default messaging app on all Android devices it sells starting next year, the U.S. wireless carrier said on Tuesday.

With that move, Verizon would join peers AT&T Inc and T-Mobile US Inc in propping up competition to Apple Inc’s iMessage service.

Alphabet Inc-owned Google’s Messages comes with features similar to those in iMessage, using Rich Communication Services (RCS) technology to replace SMS-based texts.

Apple’s iMessage is limited to users who use the company’s devices, and the iPhone maker has not yet indicated any plans to extend the feature to Android users.