summary
- Google currently prohibits RCS from running on rooted Android devices.
- This may cause the messages to disappear and not be delivered without showing an error in the Messages app.
- After installing Magisk and Play Integrity Fix, RCS Messaging will work on your rooted Android smartphone despite Google’s limitations.
Rooting an Android smartphone is not as common as it was a few years ago. Additionally, if you root your phone now, you will run into several issues, including Google Wallet and banking apps not working because the device fails Play Integrity API tests. For safety and security reasons, it makes sense for Google to block banking apps and payment functionality on rooted phones. But the company has now gone a step further and started blocking RCS from working with Google Messages on rooted or bootloader-unlocked Android devices.
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Multiple users on the Reddit thread have shared that RCS is broken on their rooted Android smartphones, with some reports dating back to late 2023. A rooted smartphone may pass verification, but the user will not be able to send or receive her RCS messages. This is despite the Messages app showing the phone is successfully connected to her RCS.
In some cases, users report that the text disappears after pressing the send button. Even worse, if RCS isn’t working because your device is rooted, the Messages app won’t show any errors. Therefore, an unsuspecting user may not even know why RCS messages are not being sent.
Apparently, Google is also shadowbanning devices with unlocked bootloaders from being able to use RCS. The company confirmed to 9to5Google that it blocks rooted devices to prevent spam and abuse, and to ensure registered phones comply with RCS’s “operational measures.”
If RCS is not available, a rooted phone should automatically fall back to SMS/MMS. However, some users have reported that this does not happen with existing conversations and they have never received any texts sent by the other party.
Thankfully, you don’t have to give up root to use RCS messaging again. A simple fix is available. Install Magisk and Play Integrity Fix. After this, the phone passes the device integrity test and RCS is ready for operation. In some cases, fixes can be broken by Google publishing server-side changes or blocking fingerprinting on some devices. In these cases, you may need to wait for an updated version of the Play Integrity fix.
Google’s move to block RCS on rooted or bootloader-unlocked Android devices seems outlandish. From a security perspective, it makes sense to prevent banking and payment apps from working on a rooted phone, but blocking core communication functionality makes little sense.
