Using RCS with Google Messages on GrapheneOS

cb474

starglider In practice, this doesn't really matter: you can just message them back from BlueBubbles, and they'll then see you in iMessage and be able to respond normally. If they add your email address to their iPhone contacts, they won't even see that it's actually your underlying email vs. phone number.

Thanks for the information and explanations. So if they don't have my email in their contacts (or even if they do), will I then effectively be creating a new separate thread with each iPhone user and new group chats? In other words, the iphone user will now see two separate threads with me, one based on my email and the bubble app, the other still functional one going to my phone number via SMS or RCS? If that were the case, it seems like that would be confusing and it would be easy for the iPhone user to message the wrong chat. Especially if I'm recreating group chats with lots of users who could make the mistake.

user5678 Go ahead with the probably useless phone number deregister at https://messages.google.com/disable-chat Rationale: this entire test is based only on superstition and prayer, so why not?

Do deep breathing anger management exercises for the next 30 days as I miss any group messages that I used to be a part of. Rationale: Serenity Now

Thank you for making me laugh. Also if you are able to see this test through, I am super interested in the results.

5rlyn Also if we're back on the 36 hour clock regardless, does that mean that when installing the initial APK, we should just update to the latest version?

Maybe it's worth going through a few cycles to see if it's really permanently back to the 36 hour situation? But yeah, if you decide that is conclusively the case, then I can't see a reason not to upgrade to the newest version of Messages. It will have security and bug fixes that the older versions do not, so it should work better and be more secure.

Anyway, if we are really back to 36 hours, that is totally depressing, infuriating, and I can't believe the mods and devs have nothing to say about this. They are really leaving a lot of Graphene users high and dry.

starglider

cb474 Thanks for the information and explanations. So if they don't have my email in their contacts (or even if they do), will I then effectively be creating a new separate thread with each iPhone user and new group chats? In other words, the iphone user will now see two separate threads with me, one based on my email and the bubble app, the other still functional one going to my phone number via SMS or RCS? If that were the case, it seems like that would be confusing and it would be easy for the iPhone user to message the wrong chat. Especially if I'm recreating group chats with lots of users who could make the mistake.

Unfortunately, yes, that's how it'd work. It's been a bit smoother for me, since I was already in iOS and jumped through the hoops to keep my phone number. So the Apple people in my orbit didn't even notice. But yeah, you do need to do a bit of instruction to get your iOS friends to start using your email address instead of phone number.

OR, you could do the phone number dance that I did, which isn't really that bad. That would completely and permanently solve your problem with iOS users, because it would appear to them that you just purchased an iPhone, and their iPhones would immediately treat you like an iMessage user via your phone number (and email, too, if you used the address they had on file for your icloud account).

biscuit_tosser_88

Pixel 8 Pro, 20250311_04_RC01 stopped working today... and I'll live. I'm not in any life or death group texts, so I'll make it through this hard time. /s
TO THE DEVS: You have given me the opportunity to have a solid, private and secure OS on my phone. I thoroughly enjoy every aspect of my phone, and all the control you have given me back as a user. I look forward to reading GrapheneOS discussions and release notes.
I have MAD respect for your knowledge and ability to do what probably close to NO ONE else here can. I certainly cannot. I up my monthly donation whenever I can, because I believe in the project, and I believe in the team doing it.
THANK YOU!

5rlyn

biscuit_tosser_88 I realize there's a hint of sarcasm here, but I'm honestly leaning more towards @cb474 here. Yes, I'm sure Graphene is a monumental endeavor, and I don't have the ability or knowledge to do what the devs do. It doesn't change the fact that there's now a real problem: RCS is becoming more and more a part of every day workflow. "I didn't get your message because I use a custom ROM because I don't trust Google" is not an answer that families, employers, etc are going to readily accept. Not only that, but moving back to stock means having to blow away a phone that's probably got a lot of important stuff on it - even the best backups miss things.

Not to mention, this thread has become so long with that finding good, relevant info is starting to become pretty difficult as many of us work to try to solve this problem.

cb474

biscuit_tosser_88 Pixel 8 Pro, 20250311_04_RC01 stopped working today... and I'll live. I'm not in any life or death group texts, so I'll make it through this hard time. /s

That's nice for you. But for a lot of people group messages can involve work, elderly family members who need help, keeping in touch with one's children. Acting like breaking group messages is not big deal is just being thoughtless to others.

I also respect the Graphene devs and all the work they do and what they have created. On the other hand, they have been pretty dismissive the the problems with RCS and how it affects many users, consistently downplaying the extent of the problem and the number of people it affects. Remember, once you get in this situation there is no way out, no way to just disable RCS and go back to working group messages with MMS.

I also do not feel like using Graphene especially gives me a lot of control over my device. There are many ways in which from a security and privacy standpoint that it is better than stock Android and that's why I use it. But there are definitely compromises. At the end of the day, you are stuck with whatever the devs think is good for you. This is not fundamentally different from using stock Android where you are stuck with whatever Google thinks is good for you. This is very unlike using a desktop PC with root access or a rooted custom ROM. Yes, those options are far less secure, but that is a type of device where you really have much more control over it. As it stands with RCS, many users have asked for a simple opt-in option to enable the necessary privileges for Google Messages so that RCS works--at least temporarily, until a better solution can be found. The response of the devs was no, that's not our way. This is a good example of how users don't always have control and are told by others what is best for them.

cb474

5rlyn Not to mention, this thread has become so long with that finding good, relevant info is starting to become pretty difficult as many of us work to try to solve this problem.

I think the best solution to that is to start at the end and work through the comments backwards. There are a lot of out dated workarounds in here. Looking at what are the most recent things people say work is probably the best.

elel

Adding a note here that RCS broke again for me 2 days ago and the reinstall is not helping. I'm planning to switch carriers (need to anyway for data reasons), if that doesn't fix it I'm going to have to switch OS. Graphene is awesome and I can't find anything I'd rather be using, but staying connected with non-technical people is a non-negotiable for me. I hope this project is a success, I know I've only seen a tiny bit of the work that's gone into Graphene and I wish I had the skills to help debug this problem.

cb474

starglider OR, you could do the phone number dance that I did, which isn't really that bad. That would completely and permanently solve your problem with iOS users, because it would appear to them that you just purchased an iPhone, and their iPhones would immediately treat you like an iMessage user via your phone number (and email, too, if you used the address they had on file for your icloud account).

Thanks again for all of the explanations.

I'm wondering if I did the phone number dance and then someday either Graphene got RCS working or there was a viable way to disable RCS and not break group messages, would I be able to stop using the bubble app and just go back to Messages with iPhone users? Or would setting this all up mean I'm sort of stuck forever using the bubble app, otherwise I will break things with iPhone users in some other way.

5rlyn

DirtyDan is this still working for you? I finally caved, moved to US Mobile (actually like it a bit better than Mint, not happy I had to do so before my annual plan was over). I'm currently in the Connection/Trouble Connecting loop.

DirtyDan

5rlyn yes it's still working across multiple GrapheneOS devices with us mobile warp.

WingedHussar__

5rlyn Damn. Checked here hoping i had messed something up. Nope, back to 36 hours ;_;

Zhaethon

It took 11 days from my last fix to break down again... Ugh. Definitely considering saving a backup and going back to stock

starglider

cb474 would I be able to stop using the bubble app and just go back to Messages with iPhone users? Or would setting this all up mean I'm sort of stuck forever

Oh no that's the easy part. Just go into the messages app on the iPhone and turn off iMessage. It'll immediately deregister you. Or just pull out the SIM card and allow the iPhone to join wifi.

5rlyn

cb474 that is eventually what I settled on, leading to warp US Mobile... Hopefully my Verification is just moving a little slower than everyone else's

sparrow29

Just wanna add in here, I had to find separately how to access the debug menu (probably missed it in the giant thread).

In Google Messages app, open the search bar
Type *xyzzy* and you should see a message pop telling you Debug menu is enabled
In the menu under your user avatar, there should be a "Debug" option
Go to Debug > RCS > Report RCS Connection State

There is where you can see the bool "Etouffee: true" or false. It must be true for RCS to work/provision, whatever the message in the RCS settings says (apparently)

Zhaethon

Got it back up again, going to try staying on the 2024 version of messages and see if it sticks

FlareHeart

aaravchen

Thanks for this. Mine did the 36 hour timeout thing and I had to reinstall this morning. But I followed your procedure with the clears and reboots and the only difference was once I got the first (2024) version installed, I did have to reboot before it would try to connect (the RCS switch wasn't even available). After the reboot it sat at "connecting..." forever, so I turned RCS off and back on after waiting about 10-15 minutes and it connected immediately and checking the debug menu, it was even Etouffee: True (and a test message worked). So I think I am going to stick with the older version since it works and I'll wait to see if it doesn't time out on me.

cb474

FlareHeart So you got to Etouffee "true" with 20241120_00_RC07 (and did not have to update to 20250311_04_RC01)? If that's correct, I'll be super interested if that prevents the 36 hour reset.

I also got the 36 hour reset today, after reinstalling two days ago (before that things had worked for a month and a half). On reinstalling, I did not have to clear storage on Messages, like @aaravchen suggests. My steps were:

Deleted Messages.
Install 20241120_00_RC07 using the .apkm from APKMirror and the APKMirror app to install it.
Before opening the Messages app, set Messages as the default SMS app in the app settings (because I'm using the .apkm, I don't have to go through the step of first allowing restricted settings for Messages).
Open Messages and check that RCS in connected.
Change any RCS settings that I want to change (like disabling typing indicators), because after I update to the next version of Messages, those settings disappear and instead I just see: "RCS chats aren't available for this device. No compatible SIM card detected." It's very weird, RCS does continue to work.
Update to 20250311_04_RC01 using the .apkm for APKMirror and the APKMirror app.
I have had to reboot twice before Etouffee shows as "true." Before the recent problems I didn't have to reboot at all.

Also, as a note. This procedure worked for me two days ago fine. Today, after I first deleted Messages and then installed 20241120_00_RC07, I got a message in RCS settings that it was not available on my device. So I deleted Messages again and installed 20241120_00_RC07 again and then it said connected. Back in September when I was doing the 36 hour dance, I sometimes had things like that happen.

cb474

anorak Thanks for the explanation of how you got to the point where 20241120_00_RC07 is working on its own. Maybe I'll try again later. I've already spent a lot of time on this today.

There is one other person, FlareHeart in this thread who said they got Eouffee to "true" on 20241120_00_RC07. They said it had been stuck at "connecting," they then disabled RCS for ten minutes, reenabled it, and after that it connected and Etouffee went to "true." I tried that also, but it didn't work. It seems kind of random why this happens for some people.

5rlyn Thanks for the suggestion. Just to be clear, I'm on T-Mobile itself, not Mint. Yeah, I have thought about the US Mobile on Warp solution. I'm hesitant, because I've been on T-Mobile forever and am grandfathered into a deal I don't really want to give up. Plus, it seems like there's a decent chance that at some point Verizon will make the same updates that T-Mobile and AT&T have made and then people on Verizon will have the same problems. I'd hate to give up my T-Mobile plan and then have that happen.

litlelilim Would also love to know the timeline and scope of the GOS messaging app? Did this project just start this year?

Given that in the last couple months at one point they said they had no intention of creating their own messaging app (I wish I could remember if that was here or on twitter or reddit), it would seem this was a recent decision. It would be nice to have more clear communication about this.

aaravchen

cb474

I haven't seen issues with the RCS settings disappearing on the 20250311_04_RC01 build before, but I have also seen intermittent issues with "RCS not available on this device" on the 20241120_00_RC07 build and handled the same way you did (uninstall and try again).

DeletedUser638

cb474 I followed @aaravchen's method and only after upgrading to the apkm did I receive the "welcome to RCS" message. In settings, it shows my status as connected (T-Mobile P7).

However, it took three reboots over the course of a couple of hours for get Etouffee provisioning to switch over to true.

cb474

@Turtacular How did you originally determine that 20250311_04_RC01 would provision Etouffee to "true" and not reset every 36 hours? I'm wondering, since there are many many subsequent versions between then and when the problems started in September, if there may be some later version that will still last longer than 36 hours. Is is just a question of trial and error?

Turtacular

cb474 unfortunately so. It's a moving target at this point even more than when I was actively putting time into finding a stopgap.

Do we know if the method I used is officially back to 24-36 hour resets? If so, I'm not sure the solution is better than the problem for my personal use. I can't find a mobile plan with enough value to move my family off Mint, and I'm not seeing sufficient evidence that moving anywhere except possibly Fi would be a long term solution anyway. Happy to be wrong, though.

aaravchen

Turtacular
It does appear that's the case, your original method no longer works for more than 36 hours.
I can +1 the problem myself, and I've seen at least 3 other people in this thread say the same thing.

5rlyn

Turtacular from a financial standpoint, US Mobile seems to have comparable pricing. @DirtyDan reports RCS working on "Warp," although I haven't gotten it working yet. Ported yesterday afternoon.

cb474

aaravchen Yeah, the issue with RCS settings disappearing and it saying instead that RCS is not available on the device, even though it is actually working, is super weird. I've only seen one other person mention it here, after I first reported the phenomenon.

Turtacular Yeah, I've been using your method and I just got the 36 hour reset today. I wonder why that problem has started with 20250311_04_RC01? Did something change again on the backend servers? Is it just because of the relative age of that version of Messages? And does it make more sense to see if there is an older version of Messages that will provision Etouffee to true, but not reset at 36 hours, or to look for a newer version of Messages that will solve the problem?

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