Messages by Google

Google LLC

About this app

Messages by Google is the official Google app for messaging over Rich Communication Services (RCS) with fallback to SMS/MMS. Get more done in your messages with one-tap calendar reminders and emoji replies, and keep your conversations secure with spam protection and end-to-end encryption so you can focus on connecting with the people and businesses you care about — no matter what device they use.

Know when friends are typing or when they've read your message, share high-resolution images and videos, easily add people to a group chat, and experience an all-around richer messaging experience.

End-to-end encryption secures your eligible communications, so no one (including Google and third parties) can read or view your messages and attachments except the person you’re messaging.

If a website is suspicious or unsafe, you’ll be warned before clicking any links. You can also block and report potential spammers to help stop unwanted and fraudulent messages.

Share high-resolution videos directly from your Google Photos library.

Keep the conversation going no matter what device you're on. Enjoy RCS chats with friends on your phone, computer, Android tablet, or smart watch with the Messages app.

Access suggested replies, one-tap calendar reminders, link sharing, and more without leaving your message. Reply quicker and get more out of your conversations with smart actions.

Suggested responses, gifs, and emojis make conversations faster and more fun. Reply back to messages with just a tap and keep the conversation going.

Ratings and reviews

Used to be great Recently (past month or so), there's tons of connectivity issues. It causes my messages to not send. Don't know what happened but I've went through all the troubleshooting articles and can't get it to work like it used to. I use the desktop interface all day at work to send texts for my job. A text will sit in a "sending" status and then I'll see the connection issue pop up on my desktop. Once I tap my phone and open the app, the text will send. Huge inconvenience.

Custom categories in the original messaging app, were very useful. Not having them in this app makes keeping track of conversations much harder. Also, if you've received multiple long messages from a sender, it will open to the bottom of the last one... Maybe I'd like to read them in the order they came in and not have to scroll to the top of the first message, and it would be good to show which one is the first unread message too. This was obvious in the standard Messages app.

Overall I think it's okay. Very utilitarian, gets the job done, and it's nice to get messages on my Chromebook without having my right next to it. Other than that it doesn't really raise the bar at all. I can't color code contacts names or separate them into different categories. There is a personal and business tab, but I don't have the option to add people to the business tab. It's only text messages from unknown numbers or marketing companies that go in the business section. Not helpful.

What's new

• Bug fixes and stability improvements.