Doesn’t look like there are obvious signs of physical damage.

I’d take it to Apple, play dumb, don’t mention the dice and see if they’ll warranty repair it.

It does both.

I am an avid RCS supporter and have been for years, but I don’t think Apple need to open up the whole app.

Apple does not have any real lock in for messaging apps, people can add their own to the App Store easily, there are no rules against this. WhatsApp has existed and been the primary messaging for many for a decade and Apple hasn’t ever tried to kill it.

For legitimate security reasons does not allow other apps to takeover SMS/MMS etc. I am over the moon Apple will finally allow real interoperability between platforms, that was the issue and it will be fixed, no need to bloat it.