![How to send RCS messages from a computer without Google account in 2026 [Tutorial]](https://lemmy.ml/pictrs/image/7d7176c5-984e-4c98-8882-028db3aebbd3.png){kind=link}
As you may know, Google removed the option to sign in Google Messages with QR Pairing. Now, they force you to do it ONLY with a Google account. People who don’t have and don’t want to create one, or people that just prefer QR pairing can still do it. But with a workaround:
- Download (or use) a Google Messages version that still allows QR pairing (like one from January 2026). It can be downloaded from Uptodown store. I tried installing it from an apk directly but it failed.
- Open the link: https://messages.google.com/web/authentication
- Sign in following the instructions on the screen.
Do it as soon as possible because Google might remove this option soon.
You are literally pushing Google here. This is about de-googling. Think about it, it may save you some day.
If you know a better way to send RCS messages from a computer, you are free to tell us. I would be grateful. :D
Why use RCS at all? Because of other people? I ask because I had that dilema at some point, and decided I cared more about my privacy than someone else’s convenience. So, if they want to talk to me, use Signal or SimpleX, otherwise, call me and we can meet somewhere.
Yes, because people refuse to use FOSS messaging apps. So we have to use the lowest common denominator SMS/RCS. I also have Signal, SimpleX, XMPP, Delta Chat and Threema.
I get how difficult it is to just swim against the current. But the reality is that it boils down to choice. I chose to allow whomever wasn’t willing to help me achieve my privacy just fade away from my life if that’s what it took. However, I don’t condemn anyone that hasn’t made that choice, because I know how hard it is to make it and stand your ground.
convenience always wins out because it takes A SHIT TON of effort to understand what you’re giving up to get that convenience when you lack the background understanding that most of us here have.
it’s definitely a failure on their part; but we’ve reached a point at which there’s SO MANY who have failed that it’s become everyone’s problem.
I didn’t always have the understanding of what I was giving up, but the signs were there so I chose to dig deeper. Fast forward 10 years, my mental health is the envy of many people because I chose to not care if people removed me from their lives for refusing to use the same services they do.
Having said that, we all have a choice to make. So, I disagree with that comment that it’s now everyone’s problem '. It certainly isn’t my problem. There are those that have chosen to add what I use to their arsenal of services, others that flat out switched to them, and then there are those that, likee, refused to use other services (like Signal and SimpleX) and I’m very happy with the decisions each of them made.
expand the scope and you’ll come to understand why it’s also your problem.
for example: what happens if one of those people who have added to their arsenal to communicate with you puts the password into a compromised password manager? or what if their phone is already compromised somehow and they don’t know it?