Google Messages Marks One Billion RCS Users, Rolls Out Seven New Features

Technology Edited by Akhil Thomas Published: Dec 01, 2023, 11:44 am

Google Messages Marks One Billion RCS Users, Rolls Out Seven New Features (Image: Android)

Google has announced that Google Messages has reached a significant milestone of 1 billion monthly active RCS users. Rich Communication Services (RCS) is a messaging protocol for Android users with certain features that are similar to Apple’s iMessage. According to Google, RCS is the new standard to replace outdated SMS and MMS protocols.

To celebrate the one billion milestone, Google has added some new features to Google Messages. Photomoji is one of the new features coming to Google Messages. Photomoji permits users to transform their photos into reactions with the help of on-device Google AI. Also, these creations will be saved in a special tab, and users will be able to reuse them. Voice Moods is another feature in which users can add emotions to voice messages by using various effects. Google also mentioned in its blog that it has improved the overall audio quality of voice messages by increasing the bitrate and sampling rate.

Google Messages has reached a major milestone with over one billion users now using RCS 🎉 To celebrate, we”re introducing 7 new fun features to express yourself → https://t.co/9o25ITXDwt pic.twitter.com/GwaCuIvg9l

— Android (@Android) November 30, 2023

Screen Effects are another feature added to Google Messages. This feature enables vibrant animations to take over the whole screen when users type specific messages. “Simply type specific messages like “it”s snowing” or “I love you” and watch your screen erupt in a symphony of colors and motion,” said Google in its blog. Google has also added the Custom Bubbles feature, in which users can customize the bubble color and backgrounds for individual conversations.

There is a new Reaction Effects feature, in which animated effects can be added to enhance reactions. Google has also added Animated Emoji and Profiles feature. With Profiles, users can personalize their profile name and picture, which are linked to their phone number. Google says that Profiles will shape how users appear across various Google services.