Google Messages set for cool new features upgrade

Good news for users of Google Messages and bad news for the makers of rival messaging services, such as WhatsApp, comes courtesy of newly discovered code that points to Google's messaging service getting some exciting new features.

The code, as reported by 9to5google, indicates that the features are nearly ready for release. One of the most interesting snippets is for a feature that rival apps don't offer. There appears to be a feature that'll automatically transcribe voice notes into text, which would be handy in environments where you can't listen to an incoming note. And there are some other useful features coming too.

What new features are coming to Google Messages?

One of the upgrades discovered by 9to5google is the ability to reply to a specific message in a conversation thread, something you can already do in the likes of Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and Apple's Messages and something I use pretty much daily. And you'll also be able to respond to a message with any emoji, not just one from a pre-defined list.

And there's also indications of a new gallery view that'll make it much easier to find the image or images you want to send in a conversation.

The code doesn't indicate when these features will go live (or how long they've been in there), but I'd expect some updates around the time of the Google Pixel 7 launch. That’s scheduled for 6 October and it'd be the perfect time for Google to make an announcement of better messaging – although that said, Google's been on a constant upgrade cycle all year with all kinds of improvements to its core apps, so the update might even sneak out before then. Either way, it won't be long before Google Messages gets even better.