Google Messages giving RCS chats a background wallpaper

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

The Google Messages background for RCS consists of overlapping circles/bubbles, while Dynamic Color looks to be leveraged. This design is pretty prominent when your phone is using a light theme, but very subtle and barely visible in dark mode. It makes the message bubbles and the compose field, as well as any photos, stand out a great deal.

In the screenshots we’ve seen, the same pattern appears to be in use at this stage of the test/rollout. Hopefully, Google will offer a collection of different designs in the future, or even dynamically generate them for something more unique.

There are many ways Messages could take this, including syncing the background with the other person in the conversation. Google should also add an option to disable it entirely.

For comparison, WhatsApp has a “Wallpaper” feature that lets you set a photograph or solid color (with optional “Doodles”/illustrations) for conversations.

This way of differentiating RCS conversations joins the prompt in the compose field and the badge over user avatars in the conversation list. 

This rollout is separate from the upcoming Custom Bubbles feature that lets you pick from nine colors. Compared to the other expressive features announced at the start of this month, Google does not appear to have rolled out this customization option yet.

More on Google Messages:

• Google Messages rolling out text field redesign with shortcuts bar
• [Fixed] Google Messages is not sharing location data with third parties despite Android 14 warning
• Messages rolling out new contacts page with Material You carousel

Thanks, Philip

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