Google Messages

In recent years, Google’s messaging services have been split between consumer and enterprise. The latter has seen a slew of changes in recent weeks, including a rebrand and expanded availability. That barrier between the two types of apps is now blurring as Google today placed G Suite head Javier Soltero in charge of consumer messaging, and unified both teams.

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Just as Google Messages has surpassed 1 billion installs on the Google Play Store, the team behind it is not resting up, as it drip-feeds new features constantly. The latest Google Messages addition is a neat little “attach recent photos” prompt for when you’re texting your contacts.

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The Google Messages app just passed 1 billion downloads on the Play Store. It’s not uncommon for a Google-made app to hit this total, but for Google Messages it’s significant. Let’s talk about why.

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A Google Messages bug appears to be deleting random SMS messages for some, with the bug causing more issues beyond just the loss of texts.

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Google Messages has been growing considerably over the past year in an effort to offer a better messaging experience for Android users, and Google is still adding more features. Now, in the latest beta update, Google Messages has introduced an image markup tool.

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RCS chat is Google’s latest attempt to fix the Android messaging mess, and slowly the company has been rolling out the functionality to Android users around the world. Now, Google Messages is delivering RCS to users in Spain.

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Google has recently begun making progress toward bringing reactions to RCS, or at least their version of RCS in the Google Messages app. In the latest salvo in the petty war of blue bubble vs green bubble, Google Messages is getting ready to send some very iMessage-like reaction text messages, such as “Liked a photo.”

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RCS is widely rolled out in the US, Mexico, UK, and France after Google took charge of the rollout last year. There are now reports this afternoon that RCS is down, with many Android users stuck on the “Connecting…” status in Google Messages.

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One of the features many will likely miss when switching from iMessage to RCS is message reactions. The latest Google Messages beta, version 5.7 “Unicorn,” appears to be adding emote reactions for messages, as well as the ability to draw on images.

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Last October, a trick to enable RCS in the Messages app on any Android phone emerged. Google today announced that it will be killing “unsupported workarounds” by the end of February.

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If you’re practicing good account security, you may have your phone number attached to various accounts as part of two-factor authentication. Google Messages is rolling out a new feature to autofill any one-time security codes that your apps may need.

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The majority of Google apps today have been revamped with the company’s latest design language. There are some minor exceptions, with recent Google Phone and Messages betas introducing Material Theme icons throughout.

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A hidden part of Android 10 is a new API for “Bubbles” which allows apps to put messaging and other functions in a floating bubble. The feature arrives in full in Android 11 and, now, Google Messages is starting to test support for Bubbles.

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Earlier this week, we spotted how Rich Communication Services became enabled stateside following a Carrier Services update. Google today announced that RCS is now fully available in Messages for Android stateside.

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Given people’s general aversion to calling these days, the amount of important communication conducted over texting is not surprising. Google’s Messages app wants to secure this process with Verified SMS, and the first supported businesses have been announced. Meanwhile, spam protection in the client is now rolling out for the US.

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Last month, Google unveiled plans to bring RCS to all Android phones in the United States, scheduled to roll out over the following weeks. Today, a new update to Carrier Services seems to immediately enable RCS on some Android devices, including Google Pixel phones.

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The latest Google Messages beta is now rolling out ‘Verified SMS’ which is aimed at protecting you from unwanted spam text messages or potential phishing attempts.

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Last month, a method was discovered to force enable RCS/Chat messaging on almost any Android phone with the Google Messages app. As of this morning, this trick is no longer needed, as Google has officially launched RCS messaging in the US, bypassing carriers. Google has now explained how this RCS migration will affect those who used the unofficial trick.

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Earlier this year, Google took over the RCS rollout from carriers in the UK, France, and Mexico. With no market still so reliant on SMS as the US, Google today announced that it’s officially rolling out RCS in Messages stateside.

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