Much more than just messaging, the Google SMS application installed natively on many Android smartphones contains many secrets. Here’s everything you need to know to master it.
Do not be fooled by appearances. Behind its simplistic facade, the Google Messages messaging application, natively installed on many Android smartphones, is packed with features. Often very practical and sometimes misunderstood, these hidden functions can, when they are known and mastered, render many services.
Whether it’s texting from your PC, scheduling a message to remember a birthday, or creating a reminder after you receive an appointment via text message, Google Messages can to achieve much more than one could imagine.
You will find in the following lines tips and sometimes hidden functions that will allow you to take advantage of the best of Google Messages on your Android smartphone.
1. Send SMS from your PC
You may not know it, but you can send and receive text messages directly from your computer by linking your Android smartphone to it. The connection procedure is also very simple.
On your computer, open your favorite web browser and go to the dedicated page of Google Messages for the web where a QR Code should appear.
Now grab your smartphone, open Google Messages, press the options button represented by three small dots, at the top right of the screen, enter the Device Association menu and then press the QR Code Reader button.
Your smartphone’s camera should then open. Point it towards the QR Code displayed in your PC’s web browser to scan it. The Google Messages app that you usually use for your text messages on your Android smartphone can now be used from your computer’s web browser.
Click the Yes button in the Remember this computer window if you want your smartphone and PC to remain connected.
2. Enable RCS messaging
In 2019, Google launched the new RCS communication protocol in France, the successor to SMS, on Android smartphones. This protocol, which tends to replace conventional SMS, transmits all the messages exchanged via an Internet connection, with all the advantages that this can bring. You can thus use it like a classic Chat, and take advantage of specific features such as sharing your geographic position in real time. To simplify things, the RCS protocol allows Google Messages to behave like WhatsApp or iMessage.
If you haven’t already, there’s still time to activate it. To do this, open Google Messages, press the button with three small dots at the top right to access the options and enter the Settings application.
Then go to the Chat Features menu to Enable Chat Features.
In the alert pop-up that appears, tap I agree. In principle, the process of validating your number should start and be done automatically. If not, press the Validate number button.
3. Enable chat bubbles
One of Android’s great qualities is its openness. Google’s mobile OS offers much greater freedom to applications and offers countless customization options. Among these, you can enable Conversation Bubbles.
To take advantage of it, enter the Settings of Messages, then in the Bubbles menu, activate them for Selected conversations only or for all.
If you opt for the first option, you will have to activate the chat bubbles individually for each of your conversations. To do this, you must display the Conversation information, then enter the Notifications menu.
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You can then activate the Put conversation in bubble option so that it appears on top of other applications within a bubble.
4. Pin your important conversations
If some conversations saved in Google Messages are more important than others, you might like to be able to keep them at the top of the list. It’s entirely possible.
To do this, display the list of all your conversations and tap and hold one of them. Then select the pin icon at the top of the screen to pin the conversation to the top of the list.
5. Hide conversations
Maybe you have a conversation in your Messages app that you wish you could hide in case any eyes lay around. You can hide certain conversations using the Archive feature. Thanks to this, your conversations no longer appear on the main page of the application and are not deleted either. They are simply “stored” in a more well-hidden dedicated section.
To archive a conversation, tap and hold it to select it, and tap the cardboard icon with a down arrow at the top of the screen.
To find the conversation, press the options button represented by three small dots at the top right of the main Messages page, then enter the Archived menu. In the same way, you can remove the conversation from the archives by selecting it and then pressing the cardboard icon with an up arrow.
6. Schedule a message to be sent
You no longer have any excuse for forgetting to send a birthday message to your loved ones. Since the end of 2020, Google Messages has included a function allowing you to program the sending of an SMS.
To schedule a send, enter a conversation and compose your message. Then keep your finger pressed on the send button. A pop-up offering to schedule the sending should then appear. You can then select one of the three suggestions displayed, or Select a date and time at your convenience.
7. Search for a message in a conversation
Over time and the messages you send and receive, finding a missive can become very difficult. Fortunately, it is possible to easily find any message within a conversation.
To do this, press the magnifying glass icon at the top right of the conversation, enter your search and validate. Google Message should then display the list of results below the search box. Simply tap the arrows to scroll through them, with the searched word automatically highlighted in the messages in which it was found.
8. Save important messages
Did you just receive a message important enough to need to save it and access it quickly? Rather than take a screenshot that will end up lost in your camera roll, you can add important messages you receive to a favorites list.
To do this, in the conversation, long press on the message, then select the star icon at the top right of the screen. A star should then be displayed on said message.
To easily find the message from the main page of Google Message, display the options menu and enter the Followers menu. There you will find the complete list of followed messages.
9. Customize a contact’s SMS ringtone
Did you know that it was possible to customize the SMS ringtone for each of your contacts? Ideal for knowing who is sending you a missive without having to look at your smartphone screen, the option is set directly from a conversation.
To do this, press the options button and enter the Information. Then enter the Notifications menu and then enter the Sound section to select another ringtone.
10. Create a reminder from Google Messages
A contact invited you to a meeting by SMS? To make sure you don’t forget, you can create a reminder directly from the conversation. To do this, do a long press on the message, and touch the icon showing a stopwatch at the top right of the screen.
A window for Set Reminder should open. Choose one of the suggestions displayed or tap Select date and time to set a specific date and time for your reminder.
11. Share your location
You want to make an appointment with a loved one, but you don’t know the address of the place where you are? Why not share your location directly?
To do this, open the conversation of the person with whom you want to share your location, press the + button located to the left of the message input field, and select the Location option.
In the permission window that pops up, choose to share your Exact location, and Only this time. A Google Maps map should then appear with your current location. Tap Send this location to share your location in real time with your correspondent.
He will receive an SMS containing a Google Maps link to locate the place where you are.
12. Start a video call
If you use Google Messages on your Android smartphone, you can trigger a video call from a conversation with a loved one. How? ‘Or’ What ? Simply by pressing the camera icon at the top right of the conversation.
Be careful, however, video calls can only work on one condition: that you and your correspondent have previously configured Google Duo on your smartphone.
If not, Google Message should automatically redirect you to the Google Play Store to download the app.