Google has been discovered to be testing a new feature for their RCS-based Google Messages app that will help it better compete with Apple’s iMessage. The feature lets users send emoji reactions to text messages, which is a feature that has been present in iMessage for ages.
The feature was spotted earlier in an app teardown but there was no clear way to activate the feature. However, two reddit users, u/rwinftw and /u/radtheoristmango, has posted screenshots of the feature working on their smartphones running the latest Messages Beta app. Other users have also since confirmed having the features.
As seen in the screenshots above, users will be able to react to a message in the chat thread with an emoji. Selecting an emoji can be done by long pressing a chat message, after which a list of reactions will show to be selected.
The feature appears to only work when both the sender and recipient have RCS enabled on their Messages app. SMS-only conversations will not have this feature visible to it. It also doesn’t appear to be working on the Messages Web client either.
At the moment, Google is testing the feature on random devices via the Google Messages Beta app using a server-side test/flag, with no clear way to force enable available. There is no information as to when we can expect a wide rollout of the feature either. To become a beta tester for Google Messages, click here.