T-Mobile Will Make Google Messages Its Default Messaging App
T-Mobile customers with Android devices will be using Google’s Messages as their primary messaging app.
The companies announced today an expanded partnership that will see Google’s app become the default on all Android devices. T-Mobile said that Messages would allow users to communicate over wifi and data, use reactions, see read receipts, and send higher quality photos and videos. The company said the rollout began with a beta and “will continue throughout 2021.”
In addition to making Messaging its default Android messaging app, T-Mobile is also scrapping its virtually brand new streaming TV service, TVision, and will now offer plans for two new existing streaming services. Its premium offering will now be YouTube TV, Google’s live TV streaming service that typically costs $65 per month. T-Mobile customers, however, will be able to snag the service at a discounted rate of $55 per month.
Its TVision customers are also being offered a discounted rate on Philo, which will cost T-Mobile customers $10 per month as opposed to the service’s normal rate of $20. It’s a lateral shift for TVision customers on the service’s budget tier, which was also priced at $10 per month. But YouTube TV is slightly pricier than the live TV offering TVision offered at launch, which was priced at $40. YouTube TV does, however, offer twice the channels as well as unlimited DVR, one of the best features of the service.
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“With our TV software provider encountering some financial challenges and with our broader, strategic partnerships with Google and Philo, we saw an opportunity to deliver unique value to our customers and strengthen the TVision initiative with the best partners,” T-Mobile boss Mike Sievert said in a statement.
“This industry is incredibly fragmented, with new streaming services launching all the time, and we’ve concluded that we can add even more value to consumers’ TV choices by partnering with the best services out there, negotiating incredible streaming media deals for T-Mobile customers, and helping our customers navigate the increasingly complex streaming world.”
The TVision Live and Vibe services head to that great streaming cloud in the sky April 29.
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