Google Messages has officially reached a significant milestone -- 1 billion Rich Communication Services (RCS) monthly active users. To mark the achievement, Google is introducing seven new features to the Messages app designed to "let your personality shine through". Notably, these updates won't alter the colour of RCS bubbles on iOS to blue. Google Messages is introducing the ability to customise bubble colour and background, including the app bar, for each conversation.
The background now takes on a lighter shade than your bubble, while the recipient's remains white (or gray). Google promotes Custom Bubbles, synced between you and the recipient, as a way to "prevent accidentally sending a weekend update meant for your friend to your family group chat."
"Today marks a new milestone that we are incredibly proud of: There are now more than one billion monthly active users with RCS enabled in Google Messages. We are grateful to our partners and our users that have advocated for RCS over the years — it’s been a lot of work to get here, and we want to thank you. Beyond Google Messages, there are other messaging clients that use RCS and we are pleased that Apple also took their first step two weeks ago in announcing that they’re embracing RCS," Sanaz Ahari, VP and GM, Android and Business Communications, wrote in a blog post.
To celebrate our one billion milestone, Google Messages is introducing seven fun new ways to express yourself when communicating and connecting with other Android users – from shared themes and screen effects to AI-powered reactions and they are as follows:
Custom Bubbles
With new Custom Bubbles, you can customize the bubble color and backgrounds of your conversation and the person you’re communicating with. Pick a different color for every chat if you like — it’s no longer about blue vs. green. Now you can differentiate your conversations and avoid accidentally texting your family group chat a weekend update meant for your friend.
Reaction Effects
Reaction Effects is an addition to your messaging experience that injects more life into your conversations. Picture this: Your friend texts you to let you know the two of you have reservations to that trendy new restaurant that everyone has been buzzing about. If you react to the message with a simple 👍emoji, magic instantly unfolds as an animated trio of hands dances around the message bubble. This feature, designed to add a dynamic twist to your chats, embraces the power of expression with all ten of these popular emoji: 👍❤️ 😂😮😡👎💩🎉😠😢.
Photomoji
Photomoji allows you to transform your favorite photos into reactions with the help of on-device Google AI. Want to react to a text with a snap of you or your four-legged best friend? Simply select the photo, choose the object you’d like to turn into a Photomoji and hit send. Your creations will be saved in a special tab for reuse and, as a bonus, your friends in group chats can use your sent Photomoji as well.
Voice Moods, Improved Audio Quality
Voice Moods bring life into voice messaging. With nine different emotions to choose from, your voice can sprinkle heart-eye emoji, fume with fireballs or break out the party popper so the recipient can hear your words along with a visual effect that expresses how you're feeling at that moment. Thanks to user feedback, we’ve also improved the overall audio quality of voice messages by increasing the bitrate and sampling rate.
Screen Effects
With Screen Effects, your messages come alive with vibrant animations that will transform your words into dazzling visual displays. Simply type specific messages like "it's snowing" or "I love you" and watch your screen erupt in a symphony of colors and motion. And together with your friends, try to uncover all 15+ hidden Screen Effects prompt words.
Animated Emoji
While emoji are the foundation of our expressions when we text, Animated Emoji take it a step further by infusing each message with a captivating burst of visual effects. For example, if your friend sends you a message revealing the breathtaking vacation spot they just booked for your trip and in response you tap ❤️, you’ll unleash an Animated Emoji that sparkles with a dazzling pink heart to properly express your excitement.
Profiles
With Profiles, you have the power to personalize your profile name and picture that accompanies your phone number. We know self-expression is important, and with Profiles, you can now shape how you appear across Google services. This addresses the problem of receiving messages from phone numbers not saved in your contacts, which can be particularly useful in group chats so that you know who all the other participants in the group are.