Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Strings and flags within Google Messages highlight upcoming features, such as camera effects for the internal Camera activity within the app.
- Flags also indicate that Google could be experimenting with removing the top contacts during search and deprioritizing drafts from the main chat screen.
Google Messages finds its way as the default texting app on plenty of flagship Android smartphones, thanks to Google’s GMS requirements. It is a good app, too, so most users don’t mind using it for daily communication. Regular Google Messages can look forward to more exciting features, such as potential camera effects and a cleaner overall look.
TheSpAndroid spotted several flags within Google Messages that point to upcoming features. For one, Google Messages has its own camera activity nestled within itself, separate from the camera app on your phone.
This camera could soon get some effects features. There isn’t more information on what the effects could be, but Google will most likely offer you the choice to toggle the effects.
Google Messages has a top contacts feature that surfaces some recently and frequently contacted people when you click on the search icon within the app. This feature may disappear in the future, though the flag sounds more like something used for internal debugging purposes.
Similarly, a new flag removes the draft message preview from the main screen. This gives a cleaner look to the app’s main screen but hides away a genuinely helpful feature. Drafts at the top of the list are a reminder to action them, and letting them dissolve back into the chat list will likely lead to many more messages that are only mentally sent but not actually sent. We presume this could also be a flag used for internal debugging purposes.
We will have to wait and see which of these changes Google considers permanent for Google Messages. Camera effects would be nice to have, depending on how they pan out to be.
