Summary
Do you ever wish Google Messages had a few more features, like being able to delete a message “for everyone” that you accidentally sent? Well, you’re in luck because after a short testing phase, two long-awaited features are finally rolling out for everyone.
Last month, Googleadded a highly requested featureto the beta channel. This feature allows select users to delete a message for everyone, essentially unsending messages in group chats. Before this change, you could long-press and delete a message, but that only removed it from your app, not the conversation itself.
This week, Google is finally ready to make the feature available to everyone. The stable channel and regular app have received an update that delivers the delete option for all users. More importantly, this isn’t just for group chats; you can also delete a message in individual conversations.
However, it’s important to note that there are a few limitations. First, it’ll only “delete the message for everyone” who is using RCS, and if the other user has an outdated version of the app, it might not work. After tapping the trash can, you’ll see the option to “Delete for me” alongside “Delete for Everyone,” letting you choose what you’d like. When it works, you’ll see a placeholder for “Message deleted” appear in the conversation. Additionally, we’re unsure of any time limits for the delete feature, as I just deleted a message from over an hour ago without any issues.
Then, all those group chats are getting a few big upgrades this week. Earlier this month, Googlestarted testing a new snooze modethat’ll help you wrangle and silence obnoxious group chats going off at random times. Just like the delete feature, snooze options are now readily available for everyone on the latest version of the Google Messages app.
If you’ve ever muted a group chat and forgotten about it, only to realize you’ve missed a week of conversations, this feature is for you. The new “Snooze chat” button lets you snooze any chat or contact for 1 hour, 8 hours, or 24 hours. Then, it’ll automatically turn back on and start sending notifications. Additionally, there’s an “always” option to permanently quiet a conversation, if you’d like.
And finally, some of the group chat customization controls for avatar images and backgrounds that we mentioned in early May are also appearing. Along with renaming an RCS group chat, you can change out those four little icons in a 2x2 grid for a custom image, making it easier to spot specific group chats.
To take advantage of all the latest Google Messages features, make sure you’re using the latest version available from the Play Store.
