So, what gives? There are plenty of unofficial theories behind the transition, but the prevailing assumption is simple: Samsung no longer wants the burden of managing its own messaging servers. It makes more sense to hand the reins to Google, which has steadily built a platform home to billions of Android users. Between the practical, security, and financial ramifications, the move just makes sense for the business.

That said, if you're like me and want to back up any important messages from over the years, you've got options. I'll go over the most reliable ones below, forgoing the ones that involve third-party services that may put your personal information at risk.

Your most secure backup option is a local transfer to an external storage drive, or SSD. Depending on how many months' or years' worth of messages you'll be moving, you'll want to make sure the drive has enough memory to host the data.

This is often a good time to look over your various threads and conversations and delete the ones you don't want (or have) to store, such as 2FA and OTA codes, transaction histories, and receipts.