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What you need to know

• Reddit users reported new read receipt flags for RCS threads in Google Messages and a teardown of the APK provided more information.

• According to the teardown, Google is testing a change in messages that moves these sent/delivered indicators inside the bubble with your text.

• A Reddit user discovered that you have to long-press and drag on a message to see the time it was sent.

Google is reportedly developing an overhaul of its RCS text indicators in Messages.

The company is developing an “inline” (type of) read receipt notification for its RCS-enabled chats. Users on Reddit reported these new indicators on their devices during the Google Messages beta (via Android Authority). More importantly, the post did an APK dive of the recent beta version (messages.android_20241029_00_RC00).

From screenshots shared on Reddit to tearing down the post, these new indicators will occupy the far right corner of your text bubble.

Further research shows that the animations have also changed. Depending on the message, sending a message is accompanied by an ellipsis (three dots) before changing to a single checkmark. A second check mark – or part of it – appears next to the first, indicating that the message was successfully sent and delivered.

These new reception indicators are (potentially) always present in the text thread regardless of the number of messages. This contrasts with how Messages currently sits where the most recently sent text shows its sent/delivered RCS indicators. Additionally, a user on Reddit In beta states, Google has changed how you can see the time of a text.

The user states that users must “hold and pull the screen to see the time the message arrived/sent.” Then the app will automatically remove the text to cover these extra details.

As the test expands to more users, it’s unclear when Google will roll it out. Reports on these revamped metrics were released recently, so the company will likely wait a while for feedback/testing before offering them to everyone.

It’s worth remembering that Google Messages used to say (numerically) “Sending…” and “Sent” when texting other people. That changed last year when the company introduced the new checkmarks we have become accustomed to seeing in the application. With this impending change, Google is moving them from below your post, next to the time, to inside the bubble with your text.

Besides your text messages, it was recently reported that Google Messages could benefit from additional privacy options through Profile discovery. These options include showing your name and profile icon to “people you message,” “contacts only,” or “no one.” These additions were discovered on the settings screen of the Messages app.