• Off Topic

  • Using RCS with Google Messages on GrapheneOS

I've been having a great time on GrapheneOS for about half a year now, but unfortunately enabling RCS still sucks.

I got it to work a few months ago (August or so) doing @chenxiaolong steps and then doing @83639273 steps on my pixel 8a, HOWEVER, it only would work on a brand new, factory reset phone. I couldn't get it to work at all after already having my other apps downloaded. It took probably under 5-10 mins (it was definitely quick), as I'm not gonna have my phone sit open for an hour to wait to see if it verifies... Unfortunately, around a month or two ago, it RCS turned off again...

Others have suggested Shizuku + AppOps, but this pretty much allows the exact same steps as the users mentioned above, just in a different flavor (without the adb from PC, etc.).

This is what I've done so far:

  • I'm using the original profile, and I don't have any other profiles
  • Google Messages, Google Play, Play Services, and Carrier Services have phone, sms, and network enabled
  • I have reset cache on all 4 apps multiple times
  • I have turned off my VPN (& killswitch) and tried setting up on data only multiple times
  • I have enabled Automatic Phone # Verification in Google Services under Sandboxed Google Play
  • I downloaded messages from the official Google Play, not Aurora Store (which I do have on my phone)
  • I use AT&T, not Verizon, so hopefully that should be less issues?
  • I've done several reboots on my phone after changing settings and trying the steps above

I have no idea what to do besides factory reset and download everything again, which is a PITA, and GrapheneOS backups seem to be glitchy. If I absolutely have to, and nothing else works, I will do it. But please, if anyone has a solution besides the same steps above, I'm all ears.

    Novastatic Have you tried temporarily installing the official Google app and giving it the same permissions? There was some speculation on this thread that the app included some config stuff and needs to be installed beforehand. You may have to repeat all the steps you mentioned. But first, try the following things:

    Have you assigned the necessary permissions to play services and Google messages? Minimum should be network, SMS, notifications, and phone (I think) - contacts or contacts scope for ease of use. If you do install the Google app afterwards, apply the same permissions.

    When you changed the device identifiers permission using adb/app opps, did you make sure to do it for both Google Messages AND Play services? (I think this is probably what caused it).

    Another shot in the dark: In the Google messages app, go to settings -> Advanced -> change it from unknown to to your number.

    Also, restarting your phone is also a way to see if the changes worked.

    Also, should RCS start working, you should be able to uninstall the Google app and app opps (if you used them) with RCS still working.

        DirtyDan

        Have you assigned the necessary permissions to play services and Google messages? Minimum should be network, SMS, notifications, and phone (I think) - contacts or contacts scope for ease of use.

        Everyone already has SMS, phone, and network as I did state that :) I will enable contact scopes (but with no contacts) for the others as messages already has full contacts permission

        When you changed the device identifiers permission using adb/app opps, did you make sure to do it for both Google Messages AND Play services?

        Yep, did that originally

        Another shot in the dark: In the Google messages app, go to settings -> Advanced -> change it from unknown to to your number.

        Did that multiple times already

        I've downloaded the Google app (from Playstore) and have given it network, phone, sms, and contacts (scopes), and have left it unmanaged. Unfortunately, I ran out of verification attempts today, so I haven't been able to try to verify after downloading it.

            Novastatic Back here again, and unfortunately, it still hasn't worked. Guess I'm going to have to just reset again, which is really undesirable since GrapheneOS doesn't seem to have the best backup system according to this thread... If there's any better solution besides redownloading everything, I'd be happy to hear.

            I really hope there can be a less painful way to use RCS in the future, as I don't know what causes Message's issues with what I have on my phone...

                Has anyone had luck getting RCS to work in a second user profile or in private space?

                The amount of permissions it needs, not to mention needing to give play services and Google messages access to device identifiers, erodes a lot of privacy...

                Novastatic Did you try de-registering your number with Google messages? 24 hours and then try to set up Google messages again with having the Google app on your phone.

                    OfflinePuffin I had tried that, but I didn't know I had to wait 24 hours. I just reset my phone and even after only downloading messages first (with Play and Play Services), and redoing previous steps, it wasn't enabling right away. I'll deregister and try tomorrow then.

                      OfflinePuffin I tried that a day or two ago and got a text from Google, but unfortunately nothing changed before I factory reset. I'm trying it now but now I'm not receiving the register check at all, and my number refuses to save in the advanced settings. Do I need to try to get support from Google about deregistering?

                          Novastatic possibly I would reach out to Google support its worth a try. I wouldn't tell them you allowed stuff with adb at first. Just see what they say

                          Its possibly its a problem with your carrier. Let me read back your posts and I will get back to you

                              OfflinePuffin Ok, I'll try not to tell them unless I have to, but should I tell them that I'm using GrapheneOS right away? Or will they not help me because I've modified the system.

                                  8 days later

                                  • Ffloop

                                    • Post #551
                                    • Edited

                                    I'm looking for advice. I recently installed GrapheneOS on my pixel 9. I was able to get everything working except for RCS. It was stuck on the verification step. It would never complete. I've tried adding my phone number, reinstalling, rebooting, hopping on one foot while reciting the alphabet backwards and in the end I had to revert everything back. I've followed the threads in this discussion but nothing worked. I did notice that ATT has been problematic and you guessed it. I have ATT prepaid. The phone is unlocked so that shouldn't be the issue. I use an ESim. Has anyone gotten RCS to work with ATT? More specifically prepaid ATT? What steps did you follow? Any advice is much appreciated.

                                      floop Do you have the Google app installed with network permissions enabled and Give network permissions to Google Play and permissions for Google Messages.

                                          So just want to give an update that might help some people. I was helping a family member get RCS to work and even after doing everything in this thread, it still wouldn't turn on even after repeating the steps over and over, and reinstalling everything from scratch.

                                          What did get it to turn on was temporarily giving play services, Google, and messages access to All photos/media/audio instead of just relying on storage scopes. I then redid the steps and it worked immediately. I then restricted it back to storage scopes and uninstalled everything I added and RCS has been going strong ever since. Given this, it might make sense to setup RCS before you move over any sensitive files.

                                          In summary here's what I did:

                                          On the Owner profile:

                                          • install esim and reboot
                                          • install Play Services and Play Store from GrapheneOS App store and allow notifications.
                                          • login to a Google account
                                          • install Google from Play Store
                                          • give play services and Google access to notifications, network, sms, phone, contacts (or contact scopes), and all photos/files all the time.
                                          • Added phone number to automatic phone verification in the Google settings in settings -> Apps -> sandboxed Play Services -> Other
                                          • install Google Messages from Play Store
                                          • give Google Messages notifications, network, sms, phone, contacts (or contact scopes), all photos/media/audio always.
                                          • open Google Messages and let it do initial run through
                                          • close messages
                                          • reopen messages and go to settings to enable RCS.

                                          For some carriers, it might already be working. Otherwise:

                                          • turn off RCS in messages
                                          • reboot phone
                                          • install app opps and shizuku. I installed them from the aurora store.
                                          • follow in app instructions to get them working
                                          • enable read hardware/device identifiers in both Messages and Play Services. (It may already be toggled on for Messages).
                                          • open messages
                                          • turn on RCS

                                          This is when it immediately started working for me.

                                          If it still doesn't work, you may want to try installing Carrier Services from the Play Store and trying this again.

                                          After I got it working, I uninstalled App opps and shizuku, uninstalled the Google app, and restricted the storage permissions for Play Services and Messages to storage scopes.

                                          I also was able to remove the Phone and Contacts permission from play services (not messages) without issues.

                                          I also removed the Automatic Phone number verification and so far no issues after a week.

                                          I should mention that I'm using a logged in Google account for this and installed everything from the Play Store unless I mentioned otherwise.

                                            OfflinePuffin Sorry to reply so late, been busy and was on a cruise with no internet for a bit. But what number do I contact, as the Google help forums seem to have a phobia of giving information, and the only number I can seem to find are this (650) 253-0000 (Headquarters) or this (866) 246-6453 (Is it legit?). I made a post on the Google help community and like many others for RCS issues, it's been ignored.

                                            I also tried to follow @DirtyDan post and even restarted after trying his steps, but no dice, didn't connect within 10-20 mins.

                                                Novastatic I have never reached out over the phone... (650) 253-0000 is the one I can find. Not sure how far you will get.

                                                Do you have another phone around where you can pop your sim in and got through the process without use shizuku or any adb commands or mod apps

                                                  Anyone can point out the most up-to-date steps that work to make RCS work in Google Messages please ?

                                                  DirtyDan

                                                  RCS just stopped working on my phone after going strong for awhile. I didn't change anything except for doing a GrapheneOS system update, though it was still working for a few hours after the update. I confirmed with app opps that messages and play services can still read hardware identifiers..

                                                  I reinstalled Google, allowed my number to be automatically verified with Google again, and handed over all the positions to messages, play services, and Google (replacing storage scopes with full storage access), cleared cache for messages, reinstalled messages, and restarted my phone a few times.

                                                  No dice so far. Any suggestions? Did anyone else lose RCS recently?