Google’s iMessage competitor Chat is going to come to more regions around the world soon, but that means the hacked workaround to get the app up and running will be disabled at the end of February.
Before I get too far into this, I’ll explain a brief history of Chat in Canada. the feature allows Android users to send ‘read receipts,’ high-quality photos, typing indicators and more — it’s basically Google’s version of iMessage.
When the feature launched originally it was known as RCS, but since then, Google has replaced that name with ‘Chat.’ In some countries like Mexico, France and the U.S., Google has enabled Chat on all Android phones so everyone can use it.
In Canada, only phones that are approved by the carriers can use Chat. That means that you can use the feature on a small handful of devices. On top of this, each carrier supports different devices.
Google recently posted a blurb on its support page that says the following:
“As we prepare to bring chat features to more regions, users who have gotten chat features through unsupported workarounds where chat features aren’t available yet will see them disabled by the end of February. For these users, chat features will be disabled for all versions of the app, including older versions. We continue to work on bringing chat features to more regions around the world as soon as possible.”
Leading out of this, Google told Android Police that a “transition for those using the “hack” to the official method is currently in progress, and will also be completed by the end of the month.”
This seems to suggest that Google will have Chat enabled for more people around the world by the time it cancels the hacked workaround. However, there’s will be no confirmation regarding whether Canada is included until the end of the month.
Source: Google, Android Police
MobileSyrup may earn a commission from purchases made via our links, which helps fund the journalism we provide free on our website. These links do not influence our editorial content. Support us here.
