The best new features in Google Messages

Messaging in the US is a complicated conversation. For iPhone users, it’s overwhelmingly iMessage. For Android users, it’s a toss-up. WhatsApp is the king of third-party options, followed by others like Facebook Messenger, Telegram and Signal. Google’s default option, Messages, is a standard SMS messaging app that doesn’t have the features of other apps. These days, Google wants to change that.

many of these changes RCS hinge, successor to SMS. This allows Google to add features that aren’t compatible with his SMS and match the default messaging options with the third-party options that people gravitate towards. This transition is not perfect. Apple, in particular, will not give up. But even without Apple, Google could turn the Messages app into a competitor thanks to a series of recent new features.

Google announced these changes in a blog post on Thursdayhighlights it as “10 new reasons to love Messages by Google.” With this bulletin, it’s clear that the company is aggressively selling its messaging solution to the Android community. The good news is that there’s reason to be excited.

First, the new app icon for Messages. Now Icon He features two chat bubbles, one significantly more prominent than the other, designed for Material You. The same goes for the Contacts and Phone app icons. These icons join Google’s other app icons to match your phone’s wallpaper theme. It has a blue theme by default, but adapts to fit any color scheme, as shown below.

One of my favorite new features is the ability to watch YouTube videos directly in Messages. Admittedly, this is one of the features that other chat apps have had, but it’s better than slow. You don’t have to switch to the YouTube app just to watch videos sent to you by your friends.

Earlier this year, Google closed a huge gap between iOS and Android. Turn iPhone reactions into emojis with Google messageWell, it goes both ways, as far as we can react iPhone to SMS text with emoji likewise.Unfortunately they continue to Full-text responses from iPhone users (i.e. “Jake liked ‘Would you like to see a movie tonight?'”), Other RCS users who happen to be in chat.for chat all However, for RCS users, emoji reactions will appear normally. Hopefully Apple can meet his Google here at least halfway, even if it doesn’t fully embrace RCS.nobody wantspedantic Text that clutters the group thread.

you too can Reply to a specific message, similar to how replies work in iMessage and Messenger. Replies are associated with a preview of the original message so you can easily track your reply.

Good news for frequent flyers. RCS now works on United’s in-flight Wi-Fiwhich means you don’t have to wait until you land to keep up with conversations on Google message. We hope to add more airlines in the future. Until then, if you’re a die-hard RCS user, Make sure you book through United and not another company.

When voice message transcription, went around. Voice messages are a convenient middle ground between text and phone calls. I want to send someone a quick message, but I don’t have the patience to type everything out by hand. Again, if the recipient isn’t where they can hear your message, they won’t know what you said. , reverts to “text” messages. This feature is available on Pixel 7, 7 Pro, 6, 6A, 6 Pro, Samsung Galaxy S22, or Fold 4.

Google message now Reminders and integrationFor example, if you schedule a reminder to call someone on their birthday, the reminder will appear when you open your contacts to chat. This can also happen passively. If your contacts have important events associated with them, such as birthdays or anniversaries, messages automatically remind you of those events. If you’ve saved anniversaries, you’ll see a reminder when you open a message thread with your significant other.

One important feature that will surely save many of us is Star important messagesThis option works best when contacts message you with information you need to know later, such as addresses, phone numbers, dates, etc. It’s not clear if you can star messages you like, but Google Messages suggests messages to star alone. Speaking of suggestions, Google The message also suggests starting a Meet call with a text such as “Do you have time to talk now?” We suggest adding a calendar entry for the message, including the time and date.

depending on country of residenceyou may also see new features that let you chat with businesses on Google message. This feature is similar to Business Chat on iOS, but allows you to ask questions about businesses you find in Search or Maps.

Finally, a note from Google. Pixel Watch existseven if there are reviews less than stellarIf you have a Pixel Watch, you can initiate text messages not only from your watch, but also from other devices such as Chromebooks.