Google Messages

Google is redesigning the Messages homescreen in an interesting way that replaces the navigation drawer and introduces key branding into the Android app. 

Google Messages on the web rarely gets updated, but a recent addition lets you directly reply to RCS chats like on Android.

Google today announced its support for interoperable end-to-end encrypted communication between large messaging platforms, with plans to integrate the MLS protocol into Google Messages and Android.

Google rolled out the ability for Messages to auto-group SMS texts and RCS chats last year, but the categories have now disappeared for some users.

Google is continuing its move to more explicitly label “RCS” in Messages with a very prominent badge noting which conversations are eligible.

A recent beta update to the Google Messages app changes emoji-only messages into expressive and delightful animations.

Since Google I/O 2023, the push for AI in Google’s many different applications has been huge. One result of that finds itself in Google Messages, where you can let AI write a text for you. Here’s how.

On the Pixel Tablet, the Google Messages app is installed by default. It’s the same APK as on phones, but launching takes you to the PWA version found on messages.google.com/web with a QR code to scan using your phone. The company told us that this is the intended experience on the Pixel Tablet (and other Wi-Fi tablets).

The interface for typing and sending messages in a chat app has been on my mind lately given Google’s addition of Magic Compose (too crowded) and the redesign Apple is doing in iOS 17 (too simple).

While AT&T announced that it would use Google’s Messages app for RCS in June of 2021, the carrier maintained its own backend. That’s now changing with AT&T switching over to Google’s Jibe platform for RCS.

One exciting generative AI announcement out of I/O 2023 was Magic Compose in Android’s Messages app, and Google is now starting to roll out the feature to some beta testers.

Google Wallet is getting a handful of new features at I/O 2023, including a Messages RCS integration for flight boarding passes.

During Google I/O 2023, it was announced that the Google Messages app is gaining a generative AI tool called “Magic Compose.”

Here’s a first look at the upcoming generative AI-powered “Magic Compose” feature coming to Google Messages, which can write a meaningful reply to a message or wax poetic with a song.

After first appearing last month, the Google Messages “Send photos faster” option is more widely rolling out, and we’ve done some quick tests on how it impacts file size, resolution, and quality.

While Android 14 Beta 1.1 from last week should alleviate some issues, a different bug with the latest beta version of Google Messages has emerged today that makes the RCS client unusable.

RCS has grown significantly over the past few years, but one gaping hole in the product was support for end-to-end encryption. Now, after a few months of testing, Google appears to be rolling out, or at least testing, end-to-end encryption for RCS group chats in stable Google Messages updates.

Last month, Google made the new Messages read receipt icons official, and the company is now testing putting that status directly in your conversation list.

With RCS, pictures that you send and receive are much higher resolution than they would be via MMS, but Google Messages is now testing a “Send photos faster” setting.