AT&T shuts down its messaging apps prematurely and deletes cloud backups

In May, AT&T revealed that it would sunset its messages apps that came pre-installed on the phones and tablets it sold by the end of the year. The company has already shut down the apps, according to a new report.

AT&T said that it would retire the AT&T Messages Backup & Sync app for phones and AT&T Messages for Tablet this year. The carrier told CNET that the apps were closed down on December 4.

AT&T recommends that its users switch to Google Messages, or whatever messaging app is the default app on their phones, after the shutdown. The company does favor Google Messages, which it says provides a better RCS texting experience. Verizon and Samsung have also been pushing their customers to switch to Google Messages.

AT&T's texting app will not be accessible any longer and the messages saved on the cloud will also be deleted. However, since messages stored on the cloud were also saved locally, they won't be lost during the transition to Google Messages.

AT&T made Google Messages the default Android messaging app in 2021. This means that many customers should already have Google Messages on their phones.

In 2023, the carrier switched to Google's Jibe platform to make sure its customers get the latest RCS features instantly. Although AT&T began supporting RCS in 2021, the experience was sometimes spotty due to interoperability issues, which is why it migrated the RCS backend to Google’s Jibe.

When Verizon announced that it would sunset its proprietary messaging app, there was a lot of hue and cry from its customers, forcing the company to delay the shutdown. AT&T customers have been far more accepting, or so it appears. Either way, with AT&T having pulled the trigger already, there's no other option for its customers other than switching to another texting client.