Google Messages has seen a flurry of new features start rolling out this week, but the app appears to have lost Magic Compose.
Update 11/8: We’re seeing Magic Compose return via a server-side update with version 20231102. We had to go through the setup process again.
Original 11/2: As of today, on several phones running the latest beta (20231031_01_RC00), we’re no longer seeing Magic Compose appear to the left of text fields in conversations. This is even as the “Magic Compose” toggle still exists in Settings > Suggestions. Turning that switch on/off does nothing today.
This rollback is more than likely an accident and could presumably be resolved by a server-side update. The AI-powered Magic Compose should still be a Labs feature that Google has yet to launch.
Meanwhile, we’re more broadly seeing the new Google Account-based Device pairing experience. It was only live on one of our devices when we first reported about the initial rollout, but availability has since expanded. Once you’re signed in to everything, the experience is not drastically different from the QR approach in our brief usage.
Google Messages is also more widely rolling out the updated voice recorder. However, it’s happening in a piecemeal fashion. In my case, I only have the new waveform icon in the bottom-right corner that replaces the microphone. Others have the new UI that lets you skip on holding down.
Lastly, Messages has gained a new in-conversation “Unread” line this week that does a better job of showing you what just came in.
More on Google Messages:
- Google Chat gets message bubble redesign, looks like Google Messages
- Messages loses ‘Top contacts’ when starting new conversations
- New Google Messages homescreen adds a camera shortcut
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