The fight against rooted Android devices has now roped in the Google RCS messaging service. Android users who root their devices will no longer be able to access RCS services. A few users with rooted devices are now noticing this limitation set in place by Google as they try to message others.
It seems like this limitation is in place using a series of Play Integrity API attestation checks. These checks will run through the user’s device to confirm if they have rooted their device or have a custom ROM in place. From the looks of things, these checks are already running on Android devices with access to Google RCS messaging services.
If the checks find that a device is rooted or has a custom ROM in place, it blocks access to RCS for chats. The user can then only use regular SMS and MMS messaging services, but there’s another thing to note. If the user still has RCS activated on their Messages by Google app, all messages they send won’t deliver.
In a video from Reddit user Joefuf’s page, we can see that all the messages he sent went missing without delivering. Joefuf the Reddit user makes use of a rooted Android device, hence the restriction from accessing RCS messaging services. Discussions on this matter have been live on Reddit for a while now, with various users dropping their takes on the issue.
For users who can no longer access the Google RCS messaging service to keep using the app, they need to turn off the service. They can do this by heading over to the app’s settings, selecting the RCS chat option and turning it off. This move from Google might be to ensure that all devices with access to this feature operate under the same communication protocols.