RCS messaging has been a staple ofGoogle Messagessince the feature first began rolling out to US customers inlate 2019. Since then, Messages has picked up some additional features that enhance the RCS messaging experience, specifically from asecurity perspective. Google is now rolling out an update to the beta version of the app carrying a visual tweak aimed at improving the visibility of RCS chats from the main list of conversations.
As first discovered by9to5Google, the feature highlights the chats that have RCS enabled with a Messages icon/badge in the bottom right corner of a contact’s profile picture. Another nice touch is that this badge can adapt according to yourAndroid phone’sdefault color scheme. However, it’s currently limited to the latest beta version of Messages, more specifically, version20230615_02_RC00.
In its current form, users have to navigate to an individual chat’s text field to learn whether it’s an “RCS Message” or “Text message,” with the latter being the standard SMS/MMS. As 9to5 rightly points out, this could be part of a broader push by Google to make RCS chats stand out more prominently, which has already built a significant gulf between itself and traditional SMS in terms of features.
In one of the recent Messages updates, Googleremoved the navigation drawerfrom the app’s homescreen, replacing it with the Google logo and Messages branding. This was preceded by Messages letting users know if their messages have been deliveredfrom the conversation list, saving them the trouble of manually opening the chat to check the status.
Despite the myriad benefits of RCS chats versus conventional texting — including features likeMagic Compose— one of the most profitable smartphone companies in the world, Apple, continues to shy away from the standard. Google hasrepeatedly campaignedfor the iPhone maker toenable RCS on iMessage, but it has mostly fallen on deaf ears.
