Verizon is shutting down Message Plus in November

Verizon Message Plus is shutting down. The messaging platform is being retired because it cannot offer the ‘best messaging experience’.

What is Verizon Message Plus?

As the name indicates, Verizon owns, supports, and operates the Verizon Message Plus app. Officially, the app is called Verizon Messages. However, for reasons unknown, several users refer to the messaging app as Verizon Message Plus. It does everything that other popular messaging platforms can do.

According to Droid-Life, Verizon Messages has existed for at least 8 years. Needless to say, this is a long time for a messaging app to survive, especially while competing with the likes of Apple’s iMessage, Google Messages, WhatsApp, Telegram, and other popular messaging platforms.

As per the Google Play listing of Verizon Message Plus, the app has more than 100 million downloads. Some reports suggest this proves Verizon Messages is popular. However, it is possible that Verizon is preinstalling the app on the devices or bundling it with the plans that the company sells.

Verizon might be sending some important communication or alerts on its messaging platform. Doing so would ensure users don’t uninstall the app and switch to popular alternatives.

When will Verizon shut down its messaging app?

Verizon has updated the support page for Verizon Messages. The page includes a detailed FAQ and mentions the company will retire the app on November 11, 2024.

Verizon hasn’t offered a specific reason why it is shutting down its messaging app. If the app is allegedly used by more than 100 million Android users, this number alone should have compelled the company to justify its decision.

Verizon has mentioned it decided to shut down Verizon Message Plus because they want users to have the “best messaging experience”, and presumably, the app isn’t able to offer that. The company did, however, hint why it was shutting down the messaging app.

Verizon claimed it “recognizes RCS as the future of both Android and iOS messaging, and Message+ simply can’t compete there.” What this suggests is that Verizon Messages might not be able to support RCS, a backend messaging pathway that even Apple recently adopted. Regardless of the reason, if anyone is using Verizon Message+ it would be wise to switch over to Google Messages on an Android device before the app vanishes from Google Play Store.