WhatsApp and Apple should be wary of neat leaked Google Messages feature
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Apple Messages just got a ton of new features with the arrival of iOS 16, and it looks like Google won’t be far behind in adding several major upgrades to its own Messages app for Android devices.
What digging through 9to5Google (opens in new tab) has revealed code that’s in the Messages app but hasn’t been enabled yet – suggesting these features are still being worked on and may be enabled in the not-too-distant future.
One of the upgrades apparently in the works is the ability to reply to specific messages in a conversation, something you’ll be familiar with if you’ve used WhatsApp or iMessage. Users should also soon be able to respond to a post with any emoji they like.
Audio and images
That’s not all: it looks like Messages will soon offer the ability to convert voice memos to text. In other words, you can have voice notes transcribed for you if you’re not able to listen to the actual audio clip – something not seen on many messaging rivals and that would be quite a filip for the messaging app. from Google as it continues to build a compelling messaging app to attract new users.
Finally, there are also indications that a new gallery view will appear in the Messages app, switching to a vertical layout that will make it easier to get to the image(s) you want to add to your outgoing messages.
As for when all this will come out to users, there’s no indication of a set date, but it shouldn’t be too long. It’s possible that Google will use the Pixel 7 launch on October 6 to make some software announcements as well.
Analysis: Google is not giving up on Messages
You’d be forgiven for being a little confused by Google’s messaging app strategy over the past twenty years. Messages is the default app on Pixels and many other Android phones, which handles SMS and MMS tasks. It also supports RCS or Rich Communications Services, an upgrade over SMS.
RCS is not a Google product, although Google invests heavily in its development and adoption. It turns SMS into something more modern, with support for features like read receipts and media file formats (including the all-important GIF). Google is urging Apple to support RCS, but we may have to wait a little longer for that to happen.
Then there’s Google Chat, which has acquired Google Hangouts. This is more like something like WhatsApp or Telegram and includes most of the features you would expect from a messaging app. However, it does not support SMS or RCS, which is why Google Messages is still there.
These inbound features show that Google Messages and Google Chat will remain separate for the foreseeable future — it’s somewhat confusing for users, but that’s what we expect in recent years as well. See also Google Duo, the video calling app that is now merging with Google Meet.