It looks like it was once awesome, but it hasn’t seen an update since early 2021. Google Messages for Desktop: This is yet another web wrapper program designed by an indie developer.When you set up the app, it never connects with Google’s servers, giving you a blank white screen. Android Messages Desktop (Knepper): No longer works at all with Windows 11 (and possibly other operating systems).Regardless, there’s no system tray icon, either (at least none that launches the app and tells you if you have messages). Without RCS support, Phone Link is useless to me.

However, its biggest problem is a huge one: It does not support RCS.

It’s compatible with a ton of different phones and integrates with Google Messages.

Phone Link: Microsoft’s app that lets you use your phone from your PC works pretty well.

There is also no system tray icon or notification badge on the taskbar icon. Even if you install the progressive web app (PWA), you can’t close the window or you’ll miss notifications. In order for this web app to work, it needs to be open in a browser tab.

Messages for Web: I already mentioned the big limitation of this, but I’ll repeat it again here for posterity.

Here are the solutions I found and why they don’t compare to Knepper’s. I discovered that there are a ton of ways to text through Messages on your PC, even without a bonafide Google Messages Windows app. When I realized Knepper’s app wasn’t going to work for me anymore, I started hunting for something that could duplicate the experience.

Messages by web