Google Messages is one of thestaple chat apps on Androidwithsupport for RCSand conventional SMS messaging. Although it cannot hold a candle to the likes of WhatsApp and Telegram in terms of features, you can get by sharing images, location pins, stickers, GIFs, and voice notes in RCS chats. However, the user interface doesn’t make it very easy to share multiple images quickly. Thankfully, widespread beta testing for a potential fix ensued recently.
How to enable, disable, and use RCS Chat in Google Messages
It’s probably time we moved on from the old SMS standard
you may send images from your gallery in an RCS chat on Google Messages with just a few taps — Just hit the image attachment icon in the message compose field, then pick an image from your gallery, and hit Send. However, if you’re in a blazing hurry, the attachment sheet also has a shortcut to open a full-fledged camera UI where you can snap photos without leaving the Messages app. Google recentlyupdated the camera viewfinderfor this feature as well, but you need to open the bottom sheet again every time you want to snap a photo this way, negating any time saved using the in-app camera UI.
Thankfully, changes are afoot in the latest Google messages beta, bearing version 20240318 openbeta_dynamic. The change was first spotted by app sleuthAssembleDebug on Twitter, but we are also seeing it on several devices in different countries running the latest beta version available on the Play Store, indicative of widespread testing.
Trade editing features for convenience
Old image attachment screen(left); New ‘Add more’ button in new beta UI(right)
The new UI in the latest beta changes the layout of buttons in the full-screen preview of the image you snapped using the in-app camera shortcut. Right off the bat, you’ll notice the button in the bottom-right corner saysSendinstead ofAttach, saving you an additional tap if you’re sharing just one image. The icon on the button has been updated to match the new label.
Secondly, the button in the bottom left corner now has a newAdd moreshortcut which reopens the bottom sheet, giving you the freedom to reuse the camera or pick up something you snapped earlier from the gallery. We think this is more useful than the shortcut to save an image to your camera roll seen in the current stable version. AssembleDebug notes the new UI also has an image composition field under the previewed image, and the text you enter here is preserved in the message composition field if you hit theAdd morebutton.
However, you may notice theEditoption in the upper right corner is missing. Even though they were the most basic editing tools imaginable, you may miss the convenient annotation tools mid-conversation if you hop onto the beta. Since beta testing is already widespread, we suspect it shouldn’t be long before everyone in the stable channel gets to see and use the new UI, hopefully with the missing editing tools reinstated.
