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Google is silently blocking RCS messages on rooted Android phones and custom ROMs
(www.androidauthority.com)
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
Anecdotally it's obvious everywhere you go. I travel all over the world often and it's always WhatsApp. The taxi drivers, the hotel people, everyone.
For actual studies I found a handful with a quick google that confirm it. Whatsapp reported 2 billion users in 2020. And then WeChat is the next which is China centric. Nobody uses standard SMS except Americans.
https://engage.sinch.com/blog/most-popular-messaging-apps-in-the-world/