Google Messages app gets a redesign, new camera features and more

Google Messages

Google is rolling out a major redesign for its Messages app that allows users to send photos and videos via rich communication services (RCS) in a more streamlined way. The update combines the live camera viewfinder with the gallery section to provide all the media files in the fullscreen UI. With this feature, users can now also send pictures and videos in their original quality as well.

An all-new user interface

According to a report by 9to5Google, the latest Google Messages beta app, version 20241118_03_RC00, has a new gallery icon. This icon is now said to bring up a new interface, which is dominated by the camera viewfinder. If you tap the Gallery icon, it will open a small window showing the camera, recent images, and folders.

This new design replaces the current folders and images section with a full-screen interface that includes a large camera viewfinder. Currently, in the stable version, we get three recent images from the device, and swiping up reveals a grid of photos. Further, folders can be accessed through the system photo picker.

With this rollout, Google Messages users will reportedly be able to select between HD and HD+ photos. The HD option is optimised for chat messages with images in reduced quality, while the latter sends media at its full resolution without any compression applied.

However, if HD+ resolution is selected, it will consume more data and take a relatively longer time to be sent. This change also removes the “Send photos faster” toggle from the Google Messages settings page. All of these changes should be visible to all Google Messages users in the coming months.