Google Messages is full of new features with seven new functions for its application! On the program: animations for emojis and reactions, screen effects, photomojis and the creation of a profile! Enough to personalize your messaging!
As Apple finally agrees to support RCS – Rich Communication Services, a communication protocol intended to replace SMS and MMS for the exchange of messages on mobile – from 2024, after many years of refusal, Google continues to improve its Google Messages application, constantly bringing it closer to instant messaging popular ones, like WhatsApp or Signal. Thus, messages can be enriched with links, emojis, photos and videos in high quality, input indicators show when the correspondent is writing, group conversations are possible… Recently, the Internet giant is working to integrate text formatting options (see our article). Suffice it to say that, installed as standard on most Android smartphones, Google Messages has won over many users! Moreover, the Mountain View firm has just crossed the milestone of one billion monthly active users! To celebrate this success, she announced in a blog post a whole host of new functions with, of course, a touch of artificial intelligence!
Google Messages: RCS messaging is full of new features
The first new feature is called Photomoji and allows you to transform any photo into a reaction using Google’s artificial intelligence. Simply choose a photo, select the element to cut out and press “Send” to get a new sticker. All creations are saved in a special tab to be reused later – note that, if a Photomoji is used in a conversation, participants can also use it. A function which is reminiscent of the creation of stickers on iMessage or the tool currently being tested on Instagram (see our article).
Google Messages will also welcome Voice Mood, allowing you to add a color and an emoji – among nine to choose from – to a voice message in order to better express what you feel. Moreover, the audio quality of voice messages has been improved by increasing the bit rate and sample rate of audio files. Screen Effects also appear: around fifteen phrases like “it’s snowing” or “I love you” will trigger different animations throughout the screen. It will also be possible to customize the color of the bubbles and backgrounds of the conversations, each of which can thus take on different tones. Enough to identify at a glance the discussion you are in! Enough to put an end to the controversy between blue bubbles and green bubbles on iPhone?
Google will also enrich reactions to messages. So, when you react to a message using one of the ten most popular emojis, a small animation will take place. Likewise, messages containing only an emoji will now be animated. So, if we send a heart, it will shine brightly! Finally, a profile system will appear to easily personalize your photo and name which will appear to all our correspondents (see our article), a bit like what WhatsApp already offers! Several displays are possible. So, you have the choice between the full name, the initials, a mixture of the two or just a first name. For the profile image, you can put a photo, but also keep the avatar associated with the Google account or display the initials with a plain background. For now, these new functions are available in the beta version of the application.