Google Messages Celebrates One Billion Monthly Active Users with New Features

In a major milestone for the mobile industry, Google Messages has announced that there are now over one billion monthly active users with RCS enabled. This modern texting standard has replaced outdated SMS and MMS protocols, offering users a more modern and secure messaging experience. With features such as typing indicators, read receipts, threaded replies, high-quality media sharing, improved group chats, and better privacy with end-to-end encryption, RCS has proven to be a much better messaging protocol.

To celebrate this achievement, Google Messages is introducing seven new ways for users to express themselves when communicating with other Android users. These fun and innovative features are designed to enhance the messaging experience and add a touch of creativity to conversations.

Photomoji: Transform Your Photos into Reactions

Photomoji allows users to transform their favorite photos into reactions with the help of on-device Google AI. Whether it’s 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 friends in group chats can also use your sent Photomoji.

Voice Moods, plus Improved Audio Quality

Voice Moods bring life into voice messaging with nine different emotions to choose from. Users can now sprinkle heart-eye emoji, fume with fireballs, or break out the party popper, allowing recipients to hear their words along with a visual effect that expresses how they’re feeling at that moment. Additionally, the overall audio quality of voice messages has been improved based on user feedback.

Screen Effects: Bring Your Messages to Life

With Screen Effects, messages come alive with vibrant animations that transform words into dazzling visual displays. By typing specific messages like “it’s snowing” or “I love you,” users can watch their screens erupt in a symphony of colors and motion.

Custom Bubbles: Personalize Your Conversations

New Custom Bubbles allow users to customize the bubble color and backgrounds of their conversations, making it easier to differentiate between chats and avoid accidental messages to the wrong group.

Reaction Effects: Add Life to Your Conversations

Reaction Effects inject more life into conversations by adding animated visual effects to emoji reactions, adding a dynamic twist to chats and embracing the power of expression.

Animated Emoji: Infuse Your Messages with Visual Effects

Animated Emoji take expressions a step further by infusing each message with a captivating burst of visual effects, adding a playful touch to conversations.

Profiles: Personalize Your Profile Name and Picture

With Profiles, users have the power to personalize their profile name and picture that accompanies their phone number, allowing for self-expression and making it easier to identify participants in group chats.

These new features are rolling out to beta starting today, and users can download Google Messages from the Google Play Store to start enjoying them. Availability of features may vary by market and device, and users may be required to sign up for beta testing and have a data plan.