Google Messages will soon let you react to conversations with any emoji

US tech giant Google’s messaging service, Google Messages, is currently testing the ability to react to a message using any emoji.

Recently, it has been possible for Google Messages users to react to messages received with the RCS protocol with some emojis, but the choice was quite limited. More recently, Google also made it possible to react to any SMS by sending a new SMS with the selected emoji. As expected, Google will finally align itself with its various competitors and improve its functionality.

Indeed, as spotted by 9to5Google, Google Messages is in the process of roll out full emoji reactions to a small set of users, which were previously limited to choosing one from a total of seven emotes. Previously, a long press on a message in Google Messages opened a context menu with 7 emoji reactions : Thumbs up, Thumbs down, Smiling face with heart-shaped eyes, Face with tears of joy, Face with open mouth, Crying face and Angry face.

Google will allow you to react to messages with more emojis

In a new update to Google Messages, some users have discovered that the “thumbs down” has disappeared. The latter has been replaced by a new black and white smiley with a plus sign. Tapping on this face will open full emoji keyboard, thus allowing you to select any emoji available on your smartphone.

If you are viewing the reactions of a group message, all the names and emojis they reacted to will appear in a pop-up window. Currently, this feature is only available from the latest beta version of Google Messages.

This addition was necessary to be able to compete with the most important market players such as Messenger or WhatsApp. In recent months, Google has made significant progress in text messaging while criticizing Apple for not adopting the RCS protocol.

Indeed, Google has been demanding Apple adopt RCS for years but at this point it looks like Apple will be sticking with its own iMessage system, which some say locks users into the iOS ecosystem. Rather than offering its users a more secure technology, Apple prefers to avoid the subject and suggests to its fans that they buy iPhones for their loved ones.

Source: 9to5Google