The latest version of Google's Messages app offers some useful additions, especially when exchanging texts with an iPhone user.
Your Android phone comes with a default text messaging app that may or may not serve your purposes. Alternatively, Google provides its own dedicated Messages app, which you may find more robust than the one that came with your phone. The latest version of Messages from Google displays emojis and other reactions sent from an iPhone, links to texted videos in a clearer resolution, and divides your messages into Personal and Business categories to keep them more organized. Here's how it works.
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If you don't have the Messages app from Google yet, go to Google Play on your Android device to download and install it. If you already have the app, make sure to update it to the latest version. After opening the app for the first time, you will be asked if you want to use it by default. If so, tap the Set default SMS app button. Tap Yes when prompted to confirm that you want to change the default messaging app. This brings you to the main screen of the application (Figure A).
Figure A
To send a message, tap the Start chat button and enter or select the other person's name or phone number. Depending on your keyboard app, you can add emojis, stickers, GIFs, clipboard items, and other content. Compose and send your message (Figure B).
Figure B
In the past, emojis and other reactions sent from an iPhone did not display properly on an Android device. This is due to incompatibilities between Apple's proprietary iMessage format and Google's MMS and RCS formats. But the latest version of Messages from Google allows a reaction from an iPhone user to appear in text context. To try this, have an iPhone user send you a message with an emoji or other reaction to see how it looks on your Android phone (Figure C).
Figure C
Previously, videos shared via text message could be of lower quality to reduce their size. The latest version of Messages from Google allows you to send videos as links from Google Photos to maintain their quality. To use it, tap the Photos icon next to the message field in a new text. Select Gallery and then Folders. Tap the hamburger icon and select Photos to see all your photos and videos in Google Photos (Figure D).
Figure D
Browse and select the video you want to link in your text. Send message (Figure E).
Figure E
Finally, trying to separate your personal texts from your business texts is always a challenge, but it's something that the latest version of Messages by Google is addressing. The app now generates headers for Personal and Business and uses artificial intelligence to understand which messages belong to which category. Tap any title to see different texts. Better still, you can tell the app to automatically delete any one-time passwords sent to you after 24 hours to reduce clutter (Figure F).
Figure F
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