Google Message Gets a New Icon, Interface CleanUp, and Preps for RCS Messaging

BY GreenBot Staff

Published 25 Oct 2016

Google Messenger’s leap to version 2.0 in 2016 brought several changes that tidied up the interface. And prepared for a world of better messaging. First, you notice that the icon has been renewed, with a white message bubble in a dark blue circle. You get the circular icon regardless of the phone you have.

The dark blue icon was now more distinguished from Android’s phone app.

Also, several subtle improvements brought more consistency to different interface parts. The conversations were grouped together. Improved on the previous edition, which felt like too much space was wasted. Also, when you create a group MMS. Your frequent contacts are grouped at the top, while the rest are below. The floating action button sends an arrow that matches the surrounding color scheme better. Previously the sections were listed in separate tabs.

Messenger was more consistent, and smarter in how it handled group messaging.

A teardown by the Android Police revealed an exciting development. A lot of work went on to prepare Messenger to support Rich Communication Services RCS. Since the Pixel came from Verizon. There’s a chance that it can work directly with the carrier to integrate RCS into the app. You can get the latest version of Google Messenger from PlayStore.

The impact on you:

Along with those improvements, it was worth noting how many cool features Messenger has. The humble texting app supports GIFs, stickers, photos, videos, and all the emojis your phone supports. You can easily send all this stuff to your iPhone using friends. It just arrived as an MMS, which gave them less cause to green bubble-shame you. Still, RCS is the messaging future we needed; fortunately, it nudged along in 2016. Today in the 2020s, the app has progressed and grown into a fantastic app. Thank you, Google, for another excellent app, with more than 1 Billion users, to prove its worth.