Using RCS with Google Messages on GrapheneOS

patienttruth99

cb474 interesting. Maybe the VPN isn't the key. 🤷🏼‍♂️

My RCS was working until I rebooted my phone for the latest update, and now it doesn't. Says connected and I ~~believe I'm receiving messages~~ am not receiving messages via RCS, but sending is failing. I'm not blaming the update, but starting to think that something happens when I update that breaks it until it figures itself out.

cb474

patienttruth99 It's is conceivable that the backend servers block some VPN servers but not others or maybe some VPN services but not others. There are many websites that don't work with one VPN server, from my service, but do with another. That being said, I've had zero issues with the VPN and enabling RCS. I would think if that were an issue, I'd be having to change VPN servers sometimes, but I haven't.

In any case, I have not had a problem after rebooting and updating. Have you tried reinstalling Messages, following all the steps of one of the methods in this thread known to work? Maybe after Graphene updates you need to redo it?

patienttruth99

cb474 I'm just using Tailscale so I wouldn't think that would be blocked if they're not all blocked/or if it just has to do with the VPN service being turned on.

As far as following all the steps, using an older apk, etc, I have not recently. 6 months ago I was using an earlier version of that, but lately it wasn't needed despite a few iterations of problem and then eventually it worked. This most recent one is taking longer than I remember to start working again. I just tried a reinstall, though with the current version. I'll try an old one if it doesn't work on a day or so.

cb474

snaz Is it selfish to ask @GrapheneOS the details as to what the issue is specifically?

https://github.com/GrapheneOS/os-issue-tracker/issues/6331

There are probably more details there about the problem than you may even want to know.

brink1093

Turtacular Correct. Something seems to have changed on the AT&T side.

SouthernPolish99

brink1093 Something did change with At&t a few weeks ago, where a lot of users experienced interruptions.

If you previously had RCS working with at&t, try to clear all cache and storage for Google play services. I did this 2 weeks ago after experiencing getting disconnected and the previous install setup steps not working. It immediately reconnected and I've been connected with no interruptions for 2/weeks.

patienttruth99

After a few days of trying different app versions and processes to no avail, it finally started working again in the middle of the night. Messages is the most recent version from the play store.

This is on Verizon, and RCS says "connected" almost immediately, however would only show SMS when looking at a conversation. Nothing in any of the debug menus provided insight to what happened.

lynxpoint

SouthernPolish99 so RCS on AT&T currently works for you?

obbie

Turtacular
I have a Pixel 9 Pro XL on at&t (att). I installed GrapheneOS two days ago and have been waiting for RCS to connect ever since. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to work. For anyone else looking though, here are the steps I went through.

STEP 1

I turned off RCS in google messages (from play store) and uninstalled it. Then I downloaded the first APK mentioned by @Turtacular from this link: APKMirror: Google Messages

STEP 2

After the APK was downloaded and installed, I went to settings -> apps -> See all apps -> Messages -> 3 dots menu -> Allow restricted permissions

STEP 3

Next, I went into the permissions of messages and allowed:

SMS
Call logs
Camera
Contacts and Accounts
Microphone
Music and Audio
Network
Notifications
Phone
Photos and Videos
Sensors
Location

STEP 4

I went into google messages and turned RCS back on. It read *setting up** for 26 hours straight and never got beyond that point. Thinking I'd done something wrong, I repeated steps 2-4 several more times to no avail and tried rebooting a couple times too.

STEP 5

Though RCS wasn't working after steps 1-4, I thought maybe the bundler update might change things. So I downloaded the second APK from here: APKMirror, Google Messages Bundler. After it was downloaded, I installed APKMirror Installer from the play store and used it to installed the bundler file. After doing so, I updated google messages with said bundled file.

Unfortunately, nothing changed.

Conclusion

After all of that, though I love having complete control over my phone. I can't function day to day without RCS. I have a lot of group chats that use it and though I'd love to get all my friends on something like Signal, the fact remains that the friction of switching from iMessage to Signal is way too great for them, so RCS is the best I can do for now. So I'll be flashing my Pixel back to stock android until at&t gets their crap together on their end. Thanks for all the advice and help in this thread!

veej

DirtyDan THIS!!!! I TRIED EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is the ONLY THING THAT WORKED!

Didn't even have to do any tricks, pre-assigning permissions, or even compatibility mode. I did leave Google Play Services with the following permissions from the previous steps I had tried and hadn't changed them when attempting Mr. Dirty Dan's method: Contacts and accounts, Network, Phone, Sensors, SMS, Unrestricted battery usage, Unrestricted mobile data usage.

Not sure if all are necessary for this method, but it worked! Will do some experimenting and may report back if I find something interesting. All I did was open the app, click the button it told me for making it default, opened the RCS settings, and it took a few seconds on an "incompatible" status, but then tried connecting and succeeded in seconds. RCS chats didn't actually work until I returned to the Aurora store and updated it, and it immediately began changing over my chats to RCS as I opened each one. Haven't had success with group chats yet, but not sure if everyone in the ones I am currently apart of have it enabled.

Thanks Dirty Dan!

morapelor

veej

Adding that after a year of trying (On AT&T post-paid) and going so far as to trying out ADB crap and none of it working; uninstalling Google Messages, then downloading the 242499063 version of Google Messages off of Aurora Store and installing also worked for me with no additional work.

I went to the RCS screen and it said 'device not compatible' for approximately 30 seconds, then I refreshed and it instantly said RCS Connected. Done. All works great now.

xylight

veej are you using AT&T? Based on what I've read this method doesn't work on T-Mobile. I'm holding off switching to Graphene until I know a workaround for this

RobotChickens

veej
Just got RCS working again! (5 minutes ago) Pixel 9 pro, Mint mobile, Google play services permissions:
Call logs, network, notifications, phone, sensors, sms, and nearby devices but that last one is probably unrelated. VERY IMPORTANT: The final permission that got it working for me is turning on contact scopes and allowing a single contact that was my phone's own number!!
Then I installed gmessages version code 265377100 from apk mirror website download, (haven't tested Aurora) allowed as default sms app when it popped up, turned on RCS and I was done!

Edit: misremembered store

brink1093

morapelor This was the only recent strategy that got me connected on AT&T, but it stopped working a few days later and hasn't reconnected since.

I'll be switching back to stock Android since fixing this doesn't seem to be a priority. I use Signal every day, but I continue to receive RCS from a bunch of different contacts as it's standard now.

jumpdeer

Using @Turtacular's method, it is getting more and more unreliable. It used to work for days with no problem, and now I have to reboot multiple times a day to reestablish connectivity. If I don't, I get "Not sent" in my chat threads on T-mobile.

user5678

jumpdeer

I suspect for all carriers, RCS compatibility methods will only be good for a few months of joy. Any changes that are made to Google Play Services, Google Messages, or the carriers' server requirements could potentially break RCS.

For what it's worth, Im on Tmobile with P10Pro, and my RCS has continued to work, even when I was international Roaming in Japan last week (using my regular tmobile esim to connect to Japanese cell towers)

Whether that will be true in 3 months or 6 months is unknowable.

mattachu

I had dramas when I switched from Telstra here in Australia to ALDI mobile an mvno that uses Telstra's infrastructure. I usually run my Sim in an iPhone but like to run my pixel with Graphene from time to time to keep up to date with what's happening.

All I did was pop in the Sim to my pixel. Granted Google play services app the phone permission, the only other permission it has is network.

Uninstalled and reinstalled Google messages from the play store and rebooted the phone. Soon as I opened RCS settings in Google messages it connected.

This may help some people out there may not but worth a try. Just grant phone and network to play services reinstall Google messages and reboot the phone.

Sagekale123

mattachu I'm with Telstra and can't for the life of me get RCS to work no matter what I do. In the RCS setting it shows status: not supported, no compatible sim detected, I think as a last resort I will reinstall the os, did you have any issues with Telstra when you were with them?

Sagekale123

Sagekale123 I have been in contact with Telstra and they are saying they do not support google RCS which I thought they did. so maybe I am missing something?

mattachu

Sagekale123

Hey man I was a Telstra customer and my RCS worked perfectly since October this year (2025). Graphene released native support for RCS a while back and I believe that RCS through the Google Messages app is independent of carriers.

All I have done is make sure I have play store and play services installed. Grant the play services app (not the play store, play services) phone and network permissions. Then make sure I have the latest Google Messages app downloaded from the playstore (I don't even sign in I just use it without a Google account). I then go to RCS in Google messages and it'll say either connecting in orange or connected in green. Either way I'll reboot the phone and it'll all be working. You'll know its working when you go to text someone who uses android and Google messages and instead of 'text message' in the text field where you'd type a message it says 'RCS Message'.

RCS definitely worked for me as a Telstra customer and it definitely works as an ALDI mobile customer too. Hope this helps and best of luck.

DirtyDan

For the American users, if you're willing to change phone carriers, the simplest solution for the time being would be to switch to a Verizon type plan such as US Mobile Warp network. I've setup some family members' phones using US Mobile Warp and RCS works just fine on GrapheneOS for them including even on a Pixel 10. You don't even need to manually grant device identifiers anymore nor do you need to install an older version first.

Install Play services, grant at minimum: network, notifications, phone, SMS, storage scopes, contact scopes.

Go into Settings - Sandboxed Google Play - Google Settings - All Services - Phone Number Verification and toggle it on.

Install Google Messages and make sure the app says it's installed from the Play Store in App details. Give Google Messages the same minimum permissions as you just gave to play services.

Open messages for the first time and confirm RCS is toggled on even though it will likely not be working just yet.

If you have a lot of messages, you'll need to wait until all of your messages are loaded. After message history is done loading, if it doesn't auto connect to RCS, restart your phone. You'll sometimes get a text message saying your phone number is being verified with Google. It should be working at that point. Sometimes it worked immediately and sometimes it took 2 days to verify. Restarting seems to trigger a phone number verification so keep trying that if it's not working.

Zero interruptions in RCS going forward though.

5rlyn

DirtyDan appropriate that this was Post #1776.

This is honestly my plan if this matter isn't fixed by the time my annual Mint plan renews.

Turtacular

DirtyDan Has Verizon already taken over providing RCS themselves? If not, I'd be wary that the same issues may eventually reach them.

snaz

DirtyDan I can confirm this works with US Mobile Warp network. It said RCS was connected but was still getting SMS.
Good restart and I have RCS finally!

MrRoboto1212

DirtyDan This is what I've done the last hour. T-Mobile here and RCS quit for me a month ago.

I used to be on 262366063; as I said, RCS quit. I re-installed this version, and it said RCS isn't available on the device.

Downloaded 242499063 from Aurora, RCS said connected, though not working. Updated the app via Aurora, and RCS still said connected.

Just for fun, I tried this method, obviously uninstalling Messages first and doing everything. Installing from Play Store, RCS says 'connecting...', rebooted the phone, RCS is still connecting.

I will now keep things as is (even though I don't like Services having network perms), wait for the GOS Stable update to come out, and see if anything changes (despite there being no mention of RCS in the changelog). If not, I'll uninstall, re-install v2424, and wait a few more days...

When I was on v262366063 and RCS was functioning, the only permission Play Services had was phone. No network needed.

This is tiresome.

im-a-gerbil

I had to install Chrome then go to myaccount.google.com/phone and enable the device for phone number verification before it would work, the toggle in Google Settings did not help as noted by DirtyDan and others. The second I toggled it on, RCS immediately activated. No other web browser would let me toggle it on the website. Otherwise yes all of these being configured helped. I am on US Mobile's Verizon network for my main line, the secondary line I use only for data does not let me use RCS at the moment (AT&T).

JohnStrikes

im-a-gerbil
Tried this, but it's stuck at verifying.

On google fi

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