Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Google is testing a desaturated redesign for the Google Messages app, replacing bright colors with muted tones.
- The update alters multiple interface elements, including conversation views, emoji menus, search bar positions, and attachment shortcuts.
Google has been hard at work improving the overall Google Messages experience. After all, the app is the primary texting app on Android flagships, used by millions of people worldwide daily. Part of the improvement process involves experimenting with changes and seeing what resonates, and that’s what Google Messages appears to be doing for its latest round of UI changes that prominently opt for a desaturated look.
An APK teardown helps predict features that may arrive on a service in the future based on work-in-progress code. However, it is possible that such predicted features may not make it to a public release.
Google Messages v20250408 beta includes code that makes many changes to the app’s UI. We managed to activate these changes to give you a preview ahead of its possible release.
Starting with the main conversation screen, Google Messages appears to be going for a more desaturated look. The brighter color in the old UI is out, giving way to a dull background in the new UI. The messages that are sent stand in contrast to the background, and there’s room to make the incoming messages stand out in the dull background as well. Eagle-eyed readers will also notice that we have softer curved corners right below the header.
The shortcut menu for attachments takes the desaturated look one step further with monochrome icons devoid of color. It looks consistent but also boring.
Moving forward to the emoji menu, Google is experimenting with swapping the order of the Photomoji menu, pushing it to the very end of the list. This makes sense since more people use emojis more frequently than Photomojis.
Further, Google has also swapped the position of the search bar and the tabs in the new UI. This should help users differentiate between the search field and the text compose field, as previously, they were right on top of each other. The persistent Create button for Photomojis is gone, too, now sitting within the Photomoji tab, which again makes sense. The tabs also have a new demarcated look, better following Material Design guidelines.
Some subtle changes are also coming to RCS Business messages. The Call-to-Action buttons are more prominent, drawing attention despite their desaturated look. The bottom “Unsubscribe” snack bar is also more prominent.
AssembleDebug / Android Authority
These changes are very much a work in progress, and Google could just be experimenting with a new look. There’s nothing to say that these changes will or will not roll out to Messages’ stable branch in the future. We’ll keep you updated when we learn more.
