What used to be short, plain SMS messages to loved ones is now complete with read receipts, emoji reactions, high-resolution photos, and real-time typing indicators. The Rich Communication Services protocol is at the heart of it.
Google is fine-tuning that experience even further with a new update to the Messages app. It's currently rolling out in beta and will overhaul the “view details” page. Now, the screen pops up when you long-press a message and you'll see more information about the texts you received.
Get more clarity in your virtual conversations
The “view details” screen in Google Messages used to provide the basics, such as a timestamp, regardless of your texts being sent via SMS or RCS. You could long-press a message and get cold, factual info, but nothing that felt alive or useful unless you were troubleshooting a failed send.
As aforementioned, Google is transforming that screen into something that actually belongs to the flow of conversation. If you text someone, “Yes, please”, in response to something they said earlier, it's possible you'll forget what you were responding to hours later and lose context when next you see the text.
The old page view would tell you it was sent at 8:02 PM, along with both parties' phone numbers. In the new interface, it actually shows what you were replying to, such as “Should I bring treats when I come?”. It reattaches that severed context in longer conversations or when you’re replying from the notification shade and forget the thread.
Related: Material 3 Expressive Design Enters Google Phone in Beta rollout
Confirm who's read or ignored your texts
Google's new Messages feature introduces a much clearer way of showing who has read your message and who has only received it. I usually send time-sensitive messages in group chats. In situations like this, there's that one person who reads the message an hour ago, while another receives it but hasn’t opened it, and a third never gets it at all.
You need these details to respond more intelligently. You might choose to nudge the person who hasn’t opened it, or call the one whose message was never delivered. It does raise questions of how deleted messages will work in the future. I'm excited to see it in addition to the other features Google has teased with its Material 3 Expressive redesign.
So far, Google Messages is confirmed to enable editing sent messages to iOS, longer text box view capacity, sensitive content warnings, Gemini integration, dual SIM RCS support, key verifier, custom group chat icons, and less problematic satellite communication.
Related: Google Confirms Chromebooks Will Run Android At Their Core
Revamped view details menu not yet ready
The update was originally discovered by Android Authority, specifically through their usual APK teardowns. The recent beta version of the app carries the specific number messages.android_20250223_01_RC00.phone.openbeta_dynamic.
If you're not familiar with their APK teardowns, they typically involve analyzing the internal code of app updates to spot features that haven’t gone live yet but are being worked on.
These features are sometimes hidden or inactive unless force-enabled using flags or code manipulation. As for the rollout, a soft release has already begun and some beta users have received it. There’s no official launch date yet.
