Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Google is working on several tweaks to the search interface in Google Messages.
- Perhaps the most notable change is that search filters now make better use of empty space.
Google Messages offers pretty robust search functionality, allowing you to sift through texts with a number of filters. Now, it looks like Google is preparing a search UI tweak for an upcoming version of the app.
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.
We dug into the latest Google Messages beta (version messages.android_20250218_01_RC00.phone.openbeta_dynamic) and discovered that Google is making a variety of minor changes to its search UI. We were also able to activate this new UI. Check out the current interface in the first row of images, and the tweaked UI in the second row.
The first notable change is the move to rejig the search filter page, with the filter buttons being larger and arranged into two rows. Meanwhile, individual search results are now separated from each other thanks to a card-like design. Finally, the link search page now displays results in a bubble-like box with rounded corners compared to the more squared-off box currently seen in the app. It’s also worth noting that the search box, in general, has a different color compared to the current interface.
These aren’t big changes by any measure, but it does help give Google Messages a slightly more modern look, while the overhauled search filter page makes much better use of empty space.
