Google’s commitment to RCS seems to be paying off, or at least that’s the narrative they want us to believe. Following a series of small victories, including Apple subtly acknowledging RCS support in the upcoming iPhone and officially surpassing 1 billion monthly active users, Google is commemorating its achievements by introducing new features for Android Messages users.
I’m curious about the actual number of those billion users who were compelled to adopt the standard because it was the platform’s only choice for iMessage-style features. While RCS is indeed an improvement over SMS in several ways—it doesn’t have a character limit, it’s encrypted, and it allows the use of emoji reactions for messages, similar to what iPhone users have had access to for quite some time. It doesn’t offer the same benefits when communicating with an iPhone user, but that’s the nature of this competitive dual-platform society.
Here’s a rundown of the exciting new features coming to Google Messages for Android: Photomoji allows you to create emoji reactions for messages from a photo on your phone. I’m wary of the potential mischiefs that could arise from this feature. Google hasn’t specified how Photomoji displays between RCS users and iOS. Voice moods, part of a broader rollout that includes updates to Wear OS, adds art to your voice message to convey the vibe to the recipient before they listen in.
The bitrate and sampling rate of voice messages have also improved between RCS users, ensuring that angry rants will be loud and clear. As RCS is all about rich communication, Google has incorporated Screen Effects, featuring “vibrant animations” when using frequently used words like “I love you.” According to Google, there are approximately 15 Screen Effects prompt words to unlock.
Some of the additional features are borrowed from other platforms. Animated emojis, for instance, are prevalent on social media and elsewhere, and Profiles appear to be similar to iOS’s verified Contact Cards. In relation to the iPhone, Custom Bubbles offers the ability to change the color and background of your conversations, aiming to eliminate the blue versus green bubble debate. It’s unclear if iPhone users will see this color change, so it may not have much impact on the green bubble debate.
While this may seem like an effort to catch up with other messaging apps, Android users definitely deserve these features. Perhaps Google also wanted to prolong the celebration after Apple’s reluctant acceptance. It’s more entertaining to frame this as a soap opera narrative rather than a single company maintaining its dominance through a proprietary standard.
The new Google Messages features will ultimately be available to all RCS users, with beta users getting early access. To participate before everyone else, you’ll need to sign up.
