Google Messages

Most of the new Messages features announced last week have yet to widely launch, but Google is now rolling out Photomoji that can be used as reactions and stickers.

Bard is coming to Google Messages to “help you write messages, translate languages, identify images, and explore interests.”

At the end of November, Google announced several new Messages features in preview. Some of the biggest expressive capabilities are now exiting beta with the Samsung Galaxy S24 series.

Since launch, Google Messages has not allowed RCS on more than one phone number, but the app is now adding support for dual (multi) SIM.

Google is still rolling out the seven new Messages features announced at the start of December. We now have some more color on Custom Bubbles, including how Google Messages appears to be limiting it to RCS.

Just got a new Android smartphone for the holidays? If it’s your first one, it could be a little intimidating, so to get you started, here are a few apps you should immediately install or set up on a new Android device. Alternatively, if you’re not already using these apps, it might be time to give them a shot!

This app is now officially just “Google Messages” after years of being called “Messages by Google.” It dovetails with how Google, in February, started referring to “RCS” directly after years of “Chat message” in the compose field. A bigger moment in 2023, along with 1 billion monthly active users, was Google enabling RCS by default and launching end-to-end encryption for group conversations.

Announced at I/O 2023, Google started rolling out Magic Compose at the end of May. After initially being limited to the US, Magic Compose in Google Messages is now seeing some international availability.

As we previously spotted and enabled, Google Messages is now rolling out Google Account-based “Device pairing” that replaces QR codes.

Google is rolling out a background wallpaper for RCS chats in Messages to help distinguish them from SMS/MMS conversations.

Android 14 introduced a “Data sharing updates for location” dashboard. Users were warned today that Google Messages is sharing location data with third parties, but this is not the case.

As we previously spotted, Google Messages is beginning to roll out a new in-app contacts page with a touch of Material You.

Google Messages is finally rolling out the feature that lets you turn images into emojis, or at least something similar. The new integrates so well you might miss it, so this guide will go through how to create Photomoji in Google Messages.

In addition to getting seven new features yesterday, “Messages by Google” was quietly renamed to “Google Messages.”

With Google making Profiles in Messages official yesterday, one thing you’ll notice is how those images will replace any contact photos you have manually set.

There are now over 1 billion monthly active users with RCS enabled in Messages, and Google is celebrating by adding a ton of whimsy to the app across emoji (with Photomoji), voice recording, and customization.

With the addition of Magic Compose, we noted how the Google Messages text field was getting too cluttered, but a redesign is now on the way, while each contact’s profile page is also getting overhauled.  

In the past month, Messages for Android rolled out a new homescreen that removed the top search field, and Google is now adding a camera shortcut to the app bar.