Android Messages and iMessage come CLOSER! Green bubbles still exist

Android Messages app gets some BIG updates to bridge the gap to iMessage! No, the “Green bubbles” still exist but Google now gives its Android users more power to interact with iPhone users smartly. Whether it checking out reactions or sending multimedia files, Google has dropped a bucketload of features to make its Messages app stand on par with Apple messaging service. The update is rolling out to Android users over the coming weeks.

Google says that most of the limitations on the Android side of things rely on the SMS technology, Google is doing its bit to make the experience smarter. “While our latest updates can’t fix everything about Android and iPhone conversations, here are a few ways we’re addressing some of the biggest issues we’ve heard from you,” says Google.

New Google Messages features

Reactions from iPhone users: You can now see reactions to messages from your iPhone friends. The reactions will be seen an emojis on your chat. Hence, if someone reacted with the “heart sign”, you will see the heart emoji in your inbox.

Sharing high quality videos: Without involving RCS, Google allows high quality videos to be sent to iPhone and Android users via Google Photo links. “You can send your videos as Google Photos links right inside the conversation, preserving their clarity. Coming soon, you’ll be able to send your photos this way, too.”

Organised inbox: Organized inbox sorts your messages into Personal and Business tabs. You can also set one-time password messages to be automatically deleted after 24 hours to help reduce the clutter even more.

Reminders for replies: Already present in Gmail, Messages will now remind to follow-up to a message after a few days. It will rollout to English users first.

Birthday reminders: If you have saved someone’s birthday details in your phone’s contacts app, you’ll get a gentle reminder about your friend’s birthday when you open Messages, or jump into a conversation with them.

Custom emojis: If you have Gboard set as your default keyboard in Messages, you can use the Emoji Kitchen create over 2,000 new emoji mashups available as stickers.