- Live location sharing is coming to Google Messages on Android
- It’s a feature that other messaging apps have offered for some time
- There’s also an upcoming tweak to how group chats are started
Google Messages has picked up quite a few useful upgrades recently, and there are signs that two more are on the way: live location sharing to let others know where you are, and an easier way to start group chats.
First of all, live location sharing. This was actually seen in hidden code last year, but as Android Authority reports, the feature is now more prominent in the Android app — though it’s still not actually live yet for users.
The Android Authority team managed to enable the feature with a little bit of code hacking so we can all take a look at how it works. You’ll be able to control how long your location is shared for and the contacts who are able to see it – and there’ll be a persistent message in chats if you’re currently broadcasting your location.
There also appears to be some integration with Find Hub on Android here too, although locations can also be viewed via a web browser. It shouldn’t be too long now before Google decides to push this out to everyone.
Starts group chat
Next, we have a minor tweak on the way to group chat, and again thanks to Android Authority for spotting the change. This appears to be something that is currently being tested in the beta version of Google Messages.
The updated workflow spawns a multi-switch selector when pressed Start chat button down in the bottom right corner of the main conversation list – so it’s a little easier to get a new group chat up and running.
You can still just select a single contact and start a one-on-one chat, but starting a group chat now takes one less tap: you can start selecting multiple contacts at once without having to tap Create group button as you are doing now. It’s a tweak that could start rolling out more widely very soon.
With iPhones now supporting the RCS standard that Google Message implements, and plenty of updates coming to the app as well, Google Messages is quickly becoming one of the most capable and important apps that Google develops.
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