Google Messages on Android could soon get a big photo-sharing boost

Two Android phones on a green and blue background showing Google Messages
Photo sharing in Google Messages could be about to change (Image credit: Google)

  • A new photo-sharing option has been spotted in Google Messages
  • It would enable higher-resolution image sharing over RCS
  • For now the relevant code is hidden inside the beta version of the app

Google is continuing to push Google Messages as the all-purpose messaging app for Android – and it could soon introduce a new feature that improves the photo-sharing experience for users, something that's a key part of any chat app.

As spotted by the team at Android Authority, hidden code in the latest beta version of Google Messages for Android can be enabled to activate a photo quality picker: you can choose from "original quality" (HD+) or "reduced quality" (HD).

While a lot of the time you're going to want to share photos in the best quality possible, the benefit of going with the reduced quality option is a smaller file size – so the message gets sent and received more quickly, and uses up less data.

This will also require the more advanced RCS feature to be enabled, rather than plain old SMS. As it stands, photos sent over RCS in Google Messages are at a significantly better resolution than SMS, but still compressed from their original size.

Coming soon

As ever with code like this, there's no guarantee that Google will decide to keep the feature and push it out properly into the app. However, it makes sense for an option like this to be included, to match up with similar options in apps like WhatsApp.

It's not clear from this sneak preview whether "original quality" will genuinely send the photo at its original size, or at a resolution somewhere between the default currently used in the app, and the actual dimensions of the picture.

This is the latest discovery from Android Authority contributor @AssembleDebug, who has also spotted a number of other small changes potentially coming to Google Messages – including tweaks to the position and appearance of read receipt indicators.

It also looks as though Google Messages will soon let you see timestamps for individual messages, and show multiple warnings for 'sensitive content' inside messages. Look out for official announcements from Google in due course.

You might also like

TOPICS
David Nield
Freelance Contributor

Dave is a freelance tech journalist who has been writing about gadgets, apps and the web for more than two decades. Based out of Stockport, England, on TechRadar you'll find him covering news, features and reviews, particularly for phones, tablets and wearables. Working to ensure our breaking news coverage is the best in the business over weekends, David also has bylines at Gizmodo, T3, PopSci and a few other places besides, as well as being many years editing the likes of PC Explorer and The Hardware Handbook.

Read more
The bottom left corner of an Android phone, showing the Phone, Messages, Google icons and Google Search bar
Google Messages will soon get a big upgrade for photo and video quality – and I’m going to use this a lot
Google Messages contacting 911
Google Messages will get a big emergency texting upgrade soon – here's what's coming
A phone resting on a notebook showing the Google Messages logo
Google Messages now lets you send yourself RCS messages – trust me, it’s more useful than it sounds
Google Messages update
Google Messages could soon follow WhatsApp with an upgrade that makes it much easier to join group chats
A phone displaying the Google Messages logo
Google Messages could soon tell you which group chat members have read your messages - and I'm ready to snoop like never before
A phone resting on a notebook showing the Google Messages logo
Google Messages could soon let you delete messages for other people, and I can't wait to pretend my cringiest jokes never happened
Latest in Android
Two Android phones on a green and blue background showing Google Messages
Google Messages just added a fun upgrade to one of its best chat features
The bottom left corner of an Android phone, showing the Phone, Messages, Google icons and Google Search bar
Google Messages remote delete will soon save you from texting embarrassment – and here's how it works
A phone displaying the Google Messages logo
Google Messages could finally be getting this WhatsApp-style group chat feature
Android 16 logo on a phone
Android 16 Beta 3 has arrived – here are the 4 features I think will be the most useful
Google Pixel 9
Android 16 could bring an improved Samsung DeX-style desktop mode to more phones
Android 16 logo on a phone
Android 16 beta users are reporting major battery drain issues – but I’m not too worried about it
Latest in News
Nintendo Switch 2 Joy-Con up-close from app store
Nintendo's new app gave us another look at the Switch 2, and there's something different with the Joy-Con
cheap Nintendo Switch game deals sales
Nintendo didn't anticipate that Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was 'going to be the juggernaut' for the Nintendo Switch when it was ported to the console, according to former employees
Three angles of the Apple MacBook Air 15-inch M4 laptop above a desk
Apple MacBook Air 15-inch (M4) review roundup – should you buy Apple's new lightweight laptop?
Witchbrook
Witchbrook, the life-sim I've been waiting years for, finally has a release window and it's sooner than you think
Amazon Echo Smart Speaker
Amazon is experimenting with renaming Echo speakers to Alexa speakers, and it's about time
Shigeru Miyamoto presents Nintendo Today app
Nintendo Today smartphone app is out now on iOS and Android devices – and here's what it does