Google Messages SMS and/or RCS history not loading?

thedeliverator

I'm attempting to move my SMS/RCS data from a working Pixel 8 Pro (stock android) to a Pixel 6 Pro (fresh GOS install).

Short version: Despite everything I've done, Google Messages won't load in any chat history from either the onboard SMS database that I've restored from a manual backup of the 8 Pro SMS db, or from my google account (the 8 pro is backed up there). I do have RCS working - I just can't get the history that I've loaded into the SMS db to show up.

Long Version
I am attempting to use a 6 Pro as essentially a trial ground to make sure I am able to replicate all of the key functionality I need from my 8 Pro, with as little Google involved as possible. I've been very pleasantly surprised at how well Graphene is fleshed out - I have everything working, except SMS or RCS.
In order to copy my SMS data from the 8 Pro, I

disabled RCS on the 8 pro
used "SMS Backup & Restore" from Google Play to write all of the conversations to a file
moved my physical sim (Verizon) from the 8 Pro to the 6 Pro
used the same app on the 6 pro to restore from said backup
Once done, I installed QUIK, and it was able to view all of my past conversations (SMS and RCS) without issue, although it could obviously only send SMS.
After some playing around and finding some issues with QUIK, I decided that I was willing to take the privacy hit to get RCS working. First thing I did was install Google Messages + Google Play Services, and switched my SMS app to Google Messages.

Despite everything appearing fine in QUIK, Google Messages did not show any conversation history, despite several rounds of turning it off and on again, clearing cache/data, etc. Interestingly enough, I did get RCS connected, although it didn't seem to be fully functional.

I then followed some of the guidance on this page and elsewhere on these forums + reddit to try a more official route by actually signing in to my Google account etc. With that, I was able to get RCS fully working - but still no conversation history.

All of the official Google docs essentially say to restore your conversation history during new device setup, which will obviously not work for a GOS phone. Has anyone gone down this route & had any luck convincing Google Messages to load history in, one way or another?

thedeliverator

For anyone who stumbles onto this later - I was able to get Google Messages to read message history eventually. The key was

installing a very old version of it (242499063, can be installed using Manual Download in aurora store),
granting it all of the permissions it needed before opening it,
rebooting,
then opening + making it the default sms app

It then started loading conversation history, which took awhile (for me, anyway). Once it finishes up, you can update google messages to the latest version and it will retain the history.

TacoVictoria

I have the same issue. I followed your steps but unfortunately my messages won't load. RCS works fine as far as I can tell, but the history just isn't there. Any idea what the actual problem was?

Johnnyloans

TacoVictoria

Do your messages show up if you use a different texting app?

I'd go to the app info page of Google messages. (Hold your finger down on the apps icon for 2 seconds > app info)

Tap on force stop near the top.
clear the storage and cache of Google messages

Reboot the phone and reopen Google messages. Deleting the storage and cache won't delete your texting history, it is stored elsewhere.

Johnnyloans

After you do thedeliverator's advice, do this again so Google messages starts fresh -- nothing saved from the previous failure.

Johnnyloans I'd go to the app info page of Google messages. (Hold your finger down on the apps icon for 2 seconds > app info)
Tap on force stop near the top.
clear the storage and cache of Google messages

TacoVictoria

Thank you for your help! I just followed your instructions, and no luck. The history is just not there. I'm still using the old (242499063) version of Messages for now, hoping this will eventually resolve and download the history. Would updating to the newest version help?

Regular sms messages show up everywhere - messages and the native graphene sms app.

thedeliverator

Hmm, quite strange. You can certainly try updating to the latest version, although I'd be shocked if that worked - you'd probably have to downgrade again, since the latest version doesn't seem to read from ssmsdb at all.
A couple of things to check/try (remove google messages first):

did you grant the necessary permissions to google play services before installing google messages? Necessary permissions are generally Network, Notifications, Phone, and SMS (you don't need call logs, just phone). You also generally have to allow ICC authentication (under Apps -> Sandboxed google play -> Play services special permission). If not - uninstall google messages, reset google play data, add permissions, then reboot your phone before trying google messages again.
Did you grant the necessary permissions to google messages before opening it/making it your default SMS app? At a minimum, it needs Network, Notifications, Phone, and SMS - you probably want to give it Contracts access too. Be sure to grant it these permissions before opening it - install the app, grant the permissions, reboot the phone, then open the app & make it your sms app
Did you disable RCS on your old device (if relevant)? You can only have one device registered at a time - having two causes weird problems. If not, open the old device and turn off RCS in google messages settings. If you don't have access to the old device/already wiped it, you can use this official Google tool to deregister it.

TacoVictoria

thedeliverator Did you disable RCS on your old device (if relevant)?

That's one thing I didn't do. I have access to my old device, so I deactivated it.
I then went back, cleared the storage and cash of messages, before re-install. Rebooted. I then cleared storage and cash of Google Play Services, and rebooted again.
I then made sure all necessary permissions were enabled for both apps and, you guessed it, rebooted.
I log back into Messages and connect to RCS without a hiccup. The only messages I can see now are the ones from testing RCS previously on this phone, but still nothing from the one I'm moving from. It looks like my RCS history got overwritten?

Johnnyloans

Johnnyloans clear the storage and cache of Google messages

Clearing an apps storage will remove its permissions. Add them back for Google messages.

It might be worth clearing the cache (not storage) of Google play services and the play store.

thedeliverator

TacoVictoria you might be right about your message history being corrupted, although that's not something I saw myself.
If I were you, I'd wipe the smsdb on the new device, re-back up your messages from the old device, and restore the new backup to your new phone. The reason I suggest doing a new backup now that RCS is disabled is that I've seen some rumors around that leaving it enabled can mess with a backup - I dont know if that is true or not, but could be worth trying.
What'd you use to transfer your messages between devices? Sms backup & restore worked pretty well for me (it also allows you to wipe your smsdb fwiw), but I assume there are other options out there

TacoVictoria

You kind of lost me here, to be honest.

thedeliverator If I were you, I'd wipe the smsdb on the new device, re-back up your messages from the old device, and restore the new backup to your new phone. The reason I suggest doing a new backup now that RCS is disabled is that I've seen some rumors around that leaving it enabled can mess with a backup - I dont know if that is true or not, but could be worth trying.

I'm more of a casual user and not that versed in ADB commands. Honestly, the problems just don't stop. If it's not Messages history, it's notifications. I don't get notifications for anything other than calls and messages at all now.

thedeliverator What'd you use to transfer your messages between devices? Sms backup & restore worked pretty well for me (it also allows you to wipe your smsdb fwiw), but I assume there are other options out there

I haven't actually used any of them. I'm not too worried about my plain SMS messages - it's mostly OTPs and other similar crap. (I know, I know... I'm in the process of moving stuff to an authenticator) As far as I understand, it will read my RCS messages and convert them into regular SMS to transfer to the new device?

Again, thank you all for your patience and help.

thedeliverator

TacoVictoria Ah sorry, I misunderstood where you were at in the process. by smsdb, I meant Android's built-in SMS storage. SMS/MMS messages you receive are stored there, not in individual messages apps. Google messages also writes RCS messages to it, as SMS/MMS. You have to get the contents of that over to your new device manually - google's built in restoration services only work during stock android set-up, which isn't an option here. There are third party tools, fortunately.

Honestly, the problems just don't stop. If it's not Messages history, it's notifications. I don't get notifications for anything other than calls and messages at all now.

Did you install google play services from the built-in app store? Unfortunately, most (but not all!) apps require google play services to send notifications. There are better write-ups elsewhere as to why, but essentially most android apps are designed to use a centralized notification system call Google Firebase, which is served using google play services.

In terms of messages - here's a complete list of steps to get messages from a stock android phone into Graphene. I don't know if this is the most efficient path, but it is what worked for me. (you've already done some of these/I mentioned some above, but I'll put everything there for posterity's sake).

Install SMS Backup & Restore on both devices (can be found in Google play or Aurora store).
a. (for you) After installing it on your graphene phone, I would open it up, go to the sidebar -> Tools -> Delete messages or call logs, and wipe everything. This will give you a clean slate. If it asks you to make it your default SMS app, grant it that, but also put your phone in airplane mode if it has a SIM installed - otherwise, it will drop any texts you receive during the process.
Disable RCS on the source phone.
Use SMS Backup & Restore to copy the messages (and optionally call logs) between the devices. This can be done in one of two main ways:
a. It has a native cross-device transfer (I'd recommend using this simply because it is easier). Go to the sidebar -> Transfer on both phones, and select either "Send from this phone" or "Receive on this phone". Follow the prompts.
b. Backup to a file (either local or remote), and restore that file on the new device (requires copying the file if local).
Use the built-in SMS app to verify that the messages are present on the new phone.
Move the SIM card/copy over your ESIM to the new phone.
Install google play services, and grant it Network, Notifications, Phone, and SMS. Also grant it ICC authentication (under Apps -> Sandboxed google play -> Play services special permission).
Reboot the phone.
Disable wifi (for now), so you're only using cellular data, if possible. (this seems weird, but I tried skipping this step, and regretted it).
Open your google account settings (Apps -> Sandboxed Google Play -> Google Settings), log in to your account if you haven't already, then go to All Services -> Privacy & Security -> Phone Number Verification and turn it on.
Re-enable wifi (if you wish, having it on no longer causes problems).
Install version 242499063 of google messages from Aurora Store (find google messages, click Manual Install, and enter that code). This is a version from august 2024 iirc.
DO NOT open it yet. Open its app settings, and grant it Network, Notifications, Phone, and SMS at a minimum. Contacts is also really nice to have.
Reboot the phone.
Open google messages, and set it as your default SMS app when prompted. It should slowly start loading conversation history. Let it sit for as long as it needs/as long as you care to let it load. Keep scrolling down as it loads to get it to keep loading history.
Once you are happy with it, open up google message's settings and make sure RCS is enabled.
Update to the latest version of google messages. It will carry the history that has been loaded over.
In the new version, turn wifi off, then RCS off, wait a sec, then turn RCS back on. It should give you a Connected status, although it might take a second.

You should now be able to send RCS messages to people, even though past messages will show up as SMS/MMS (due to how the restore works). Note that existing group chats will be stuck as MMS for you until someone else in the group chat sends an RCS message, then your chat will update (you will be able to send RCS messages, use reactions, and will see any custom group names).

It is possible that those steps will differ for people outside of the US, but I'm reasonably confident they will work for most/all US carriers.

TacoVictoria

thedeliverator Ah sorry, I misunderstood where you were at in the process. by smsdb, I meant Android's built-in SMS storage. SMS/MMS messages you receive are stored there, not in individual messages apps. Google messages also writes RCS messages to it, as SMS/MMS. You have to get the contents of that over to your new device manually - google's built in restoration services only work during stock android set-up, which isn't an option here. There are third party tools, fortunately.

Ok, I'm back several days later, and I'm happy to report everything is working as expected!
This whole time, I was under the impression that RCS Messages are not stored locally but on Google/Carrier servers, and that messages should sync automatically when connected to the same number on RCS. I had no idea it was reserved for a Google-specific transition. I followed your steps, and everything works flawlessly. Thank you so much for the clarification and your help! This community gets some bad rep online, but honestly, you've been the most patient and helpful. Thank you.

thedeliverator Did you install google play services from the built-in app store? Unfortunately, most (but not all!) apps require google play services to send notifications. There are better write-ups elsewhere as to why, but essentially most android apps are designed to use a centralized notification system call Google Firebase, which is served using google play services.

Yes, and after redoing permissions and resetting the phone, everything went back to normal. Everything is functioning as expected, and I could be happier with the move.