{
  "id": 17864305,
  "title": "I found a serious Google Messages storage problem; Apple solved it",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/02/i-found-a-serious-google-messages-storage-problem-apple-solved-it",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-11-02T22:00:10.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Android Police",
    "slug": "android-police",
    "url": "https://www.androidpolice.com/i-found-a-serious-google-messages-storage-problem-apple-solved-it/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Google's Messages app has long been criticized for its handling of RCS in the Messages app, with many users experiencing storage issues due to unattended messages. While some complaints may be unfair, the tech giant is responsible for most of the problems in the app. Users are now pointing out a serious storage issue that hasn't received much attention, and Google is being held accountable.\n\nThe issue is that text messages, while small, can quickly accumulate when sending and receiving images and videos through RCS, causing significant storage usage over time. Even though Google Messages has an auto-delete mechanism for messages in the trash folder after 30 days, it's not enough to completely solve the storage problem. Users still need to manually delete messages to free up space.\n\nInterestingly, Apple solved this problem long ago with its Messages app. Apple's Messages app has settings to automatically delete messages after a certain period, such as 30 days or a year, and even has an option to auto-delete audio messages after two minutes. These features prevent storage from piling up and cluttering the app.\n\nDespite the iPhone and iOS not being Google's preferred platform, the author acknowledges that Google Messages' simplicity is unmatched. However, the lack of auto-delete features in Google Messages is a significant disappointment. The author is willing to wait a couple more years for Google to add these features, but the issue is so frustrating that they may have to manually clean their inbox several times before they consider turning on the auto-delete feature.",
  "summary": "I use Google Messages despite all its flaws",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}