Apple
iMessage reactions are officially rolling out to Google Messages
This feature has been in the testing phase since November of last year.
Just a heads up, if you buy something through our links, we may get a small share of the sale. It’s one of the ways we keep the lights on here. Click here for more.
Android users rejoice. You’ll now be able to see when someone on an iPhone reacts to one of your Google Messages via Apple’s Tapback reactions. First spotted back in November, the feature is officially making its way to Google Messages for Android users.
Previously, when an iPhone user reacted to an Android user’s text message, the reaction would display as “loved” followed by the message it was responding to. Naturally, this confused everyone, and the Android user eventually followed up the message with replies like, “what?” Here’s an example of what I’m talking about.
Now, Android users will see the Tapback reaction in the bottom-right corner of the message, similar to how it is displayed in the Messages app on iOS. To paint a better picture of what I’m describing here, here are a couple of screenshots of the beta in action, graciously sourced from the folks at 9to5Google:
READ MORE: How to unsend iMessages in iOS 16
As 9to5Google points out, Google mapped out the reactions differently from how Apple does them. For example, if someone on an iPhone reacts with a “heart,” Google Messages will display it as a “smiling face with heart-eyes” emoji. Likewise, “Haha” gets converted to “Face with Tears of Joy.”
As we mentioned in an earlier post, this isn’t an exact translation of Apple’s reactions, but it definitely gets the point across.
Google Messages will display these reactions by default. Still, if you want to turn them off (I honestly don’t know why you’d want to), you can disable them in the Messages menu by heading to Settings > Advanced and switching off “Show iPhone reactions as emoji.”
READ MORE: Google Messages is finally Samsung’s go-to messaging app for US users
“When people with Android phones and iPhones message each other, not everything works the way it should,” Google’s Jan Jedrzejowicz, a group product manager for Google’s Messages and Phone app, wrote in Google’s Thursday blog post announcing the features.
“That’s because these conversations rely on SMS, an outdated messaging standard, instead of RCS, a modern, more secure industry-standard Android uses that enables high-quality videos, emoji reactions, end-to-end encryption and more.”
Google says iMessage reactions should be rolling out slowly over the next coming weeks, so if you don’t see it now, just know it’s on the way. Finally.
Have any thoughts on this? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.
Editors’ Recommendations:
- Google desperately wants Apple to let them into iMessage by adding RCS support
- You’ll soon be able to schedule outgoing texts in Google Messages
- Notifications driving you crazy? This messenger app only delivers messages once a day
- How to send iMessages with special effects
Follow us on Flipboard, Google News, or Apple News
