Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
In brief
- Google may soon invert the color of the Submit button when the compose field contains content to emphasize clickability.
- Google is also working on adding transition animations, especially when entering chats from the main conversation view.
- These changes are a work in progress and are not currently live, although we have been able to enable them.
Many smart people have tried to understand Google’s messaging strategy and have given up. But progress over the past few months shows that the company is focused on building Google Messages as the primary messaging app for consumers. Consumer-focused apps need to offer a lot of features while looking appealing. Google’s recent changes to Google Messages are another step toward making the app look good.
A APK teardown helps predict features that might be included in a service in the future based on code in progress. However, such predicted features may not make it into a public release.
The latest beta version of Google Messages, v20240808_04, includes some cosmetic changes that add some flair to the messaging experience. These changes aren’t live yet, but we managed to enable them to bring them to you.
In the latest beta, we enabled a new color inversion behavior for the Send button. When you type text in the message compose box, the color of the Send button is converted to a solid color to emphasize clickability. This shows the user that they can now send a message.
Additionally, Google is adding transition animations to the Google Messages app. Hardly anyone will notice the lack of transition animations when opening individual conversations from the main conversation view, but adding some animations will surely increase user enjoyment if done tastefully.
You can check the lack of animations when you open a conversation in your Google Messages app. We managed to enable the new animations that Google is working on:
You have to be careful to notice the subtle but quick pop-up when you enter a chat. In contrast, Google Messages currently just throws you into chat screens without any visual flash.
Both changes are not currently live. Google might change the functionality as the features get closer to launch, so keep that in mind. We like these minor visual touches, so we hope Google keeps them for the stable release.
