New updates are being added at the bottom of this story…….

Original story (published on February 26, 2021) follows:

It is not unsafe to say that the ride to RCS has been quite a bumpy one. Years have passed since launch and there are still plenty of reports of issues associated with the technology across many Android devices.

For example, in the past, we highlighted how several OnePlus users were bumping into problems when trying to set up RCS through the Google Messages app on their devices.

And now, there are a bunch of complaints doing rounds about RCS feature status getting stuck on “Setting up…” and “Trying to verify your number…” infinitely when trying to set it up.

This error shows up under the Settings > Chat features > Status menu in the Google Messages app.

Nonetheless, as it stands, the issue has been doing rounds even before RCS became fully available and reports of it were much more frequent. But as the feature became supported by more regions/carriers, reports have diminished in numbers.

However, it now appears the issue has somehow surfaced even for those who previously had RCS working fine which is quite odd.

And as per users, no amount of cache clearing for both the Google Messages app and Carrier Services seems to help. Hence, we have curated a list of workarounds given out by the users themselves that should help you as well.

  1. Enroll in the Google Messages beta channel: You can do the same by heading over to the Google Messages Play Store page via this link and scrolling down till you see an option for the same.

Workarounds for RCS stuck at “Setting up … Trying to verify” on Google Messages

  1. Clear app data: Google Support has reportedly recommended the following series of steps to get RCS up and running on your device and you are free to try your luck as well:

  2. Uninstall updates to Carrier Services: It may be possible that a bad Carrier Services update is the true culprit behind it all, at least for some. Therefore, you might want to uninstall updates to the app through its app info page.

Hopefully, these workarounds helped. Be sure to inform us in the comments below if that’s truly the case.

A new workaround that seems to have temporarily fixed the issue for a couple of affected users might just do the trick for you as well. Check it out below.

Update (March 01)

It now seems that the issue has resurfaced on a range of devices. Thankfully, Google is aware of it and is investigating for a solution.

Update (July 15)

A user has given out a new workaround for the problem which has been marked as recommended. To check out the whole thing, head here.

Update (July 26)

Reports from users suggest that a VPN might be causing the problem. However, one individual even claimed that they had to remove a non-active VPN from the list to get RCS working again.

Update (August 07)

A Platinum Product Expert has recommended users who are facing the problem to try out this possible workaround shared by another individual on the Google community forums:

Update (August 14)

Android Police has since gotten in touch with Google on this matter and in response, the company notes that they’re actively working to minimize the occurrence of this episodic issue. Here’s an excerpt of the encounter.

This is what i did.

  1. Disconnect phone from WiFi. Very important.

  2. Make sure phone uses the SIM internet either 4G or 5G. Make sure mobile data is on.

  3. Got to messages and click force stop on its settings.

  4. Click clear cache

  5. Click clear data.

  6. Restart phone.

  7. Go to messages and turn on chat

  8. On phone number ..add 0 after country suffix.

i.e if country code is +44 ..next field start with 07xxx

  1. Give it a few minutes. Less than a minute an voila

Hope this helps (Source)

Update (September 02)

If you are still having Messages RCS is stuck at ‘Setting up … Trying to verify’ issue, then here’s another workaround to try suggested by one of the affected users.

Update (January 10)

10:30 am (IST): Many users are now reporting that RCS is currently down and not working for them. Reports suggest that RCS crashed a few hours ago.

– Then restart your phone (might take a few hours to a day depending on your network, but enable it around that time). (Source)

Update (January 13)

Fortunately, the service appears to be back up and running for at least a section of users.

04:32 pm (IST): Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra users on T-Mobile are also reporting this issue where Google Messages RCS gets stuck at ‘Settings up… Trying to verify’.

Update (May 25)

Fortunately, a T-Mobile employee has shared a workaround that may help you resolve this issue. You can try it out and see if it works.

Workaround:

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After switching from 5G/LTE/3G/2G to LTE/3G/2G in the settings, restarting the device, then turning on 5G/LTE/3G/2G again, it worked. Hope that does something for you, OP

Keep LTE on for a few minutes before restarting – see if it works first, then go back to 5G if you want(Source)