Google Messages adds a splash of Material You color to the send button

Google doesn’t shy away from making UI changes to Google Messages (good and bad), and that is evident by recent tweaks, including the likes of introducing a Gemini toggle and then allowing users to hide it a few months later, quietly removing YouTube picture-in-picture support within Messages (boo), and changes to read receipts and image captions.

Alongside other changes that are yet to roll out on the app’s stable channel, there also seems to be a minor UI tweak for the app’s Send button.

First spotted by 9to5Google, the UI change is live for us in Google Messages 20240813_00_RC00 beta, highlighting the subtle tweak that dabs the app’s Send button in a bucket of Material You paint.

Previously, only elements of your keyboard, like the return and clipboard buttons, featured a Material You coat. Now, the app’s Send button too pops against a themed icon background, with different looks for when the text box is blank and when it’s not.

Previously, the Send button would blend in with the conversation’s background in both Dark and Light mode. Now, it takes on the color of your chosen theme with a contrasting look. More importantly though, as seen in the screenshots above, when no message is composed, the Send button dons an unhighlighted look. With text in the message box, however, the button offers a much more emphasized look.

While the new UI’s lack of contrast when no message is composed might be confusing at first, and feels like a violation of Material You’s UX and UI guidelines, it is likely intentional — considering that the button is as good as inactive until a message is entered in the text box.

The UI change is available to try out in Google Messages 20240813_00_RC00 beta.

ICYMI: Bigger updates are on the way

Related

Dual SIM RCS support might finally be coming to Google Messages

Rolling out in beta for some

A major win for Google Messages users is coming in the form of dual SIM RCS support. The long-requested feature was finally spotted in the wild after hints regarding it first started appearing earlier this year, in January.

A Reddit user from India using Google Messages beta 20240813_00_RC00 on a Nothing Phone 2 reported gaining the ability to turn on RCS chats for both of their SIMs without having to enable any flags. Considering that the demand and usage of dual SIM devices is much higher in India than in the US, it is likely that support will roll out here at a later date.