What’s Going On with Google Messages?
Every couple of weeks, we see Google testing a new feature or tweaking the app’s design. A recent report suggests that Google is now planning to replace the familiar options menu with a contextual one when selecting a message. While that might sound like a small or insignificant update, it’s actually part of a much larger story — the “gradual evolution of features” that’s transforming Google Messages from a simple chat app into a fully integrated, yet increasingly complex, communication hub.
Recent Updates to Google Messages
It’s not just one new feature, but a combination of many small ones that are making the app feel crowded. Among the latest additions are:
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User Profiles: The ability to set a custom profile photo and name, separate from your Google account or phone contacts.
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Photomoji: Create custom emojis from your own photos.
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Screen Effects: Full-screen animated effects.
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Custom Bubbles: Personalize chat bubble colors and individual conversation backgrounds.
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Reaction Effects: React to messages with a thumbs-up emoji that triggers animated hands around the message.
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Animated Emojis: Yes, emojis that move.
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Sound Effects: Add personality to voice messages with nine different emotion-based sounds.
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AI Integration with Gemini: A built-in AI chat assistant and smart “Magic Compose” suggestions powered by Google’s Gemini AI.
Ironically, the new contextual menu redesign is an attempt to clean up the visual clutter caused by all these added features.