What you need to know
- Google is introducing new message bubbles on Google Chat.
- The aim is to differentiate incoming and outgoing chats.
- The rollout begins gradually for the web, followed by Android devices later this month.
Google Chat finally got the much-needed redesign that makes it look more like Slack, Teams, and other messaging apps, for that matter. After sharing the big announcement of features for web and enterprise users late last month, the company is highlighting another small change to help Chat look more modern.
In a new Google Workspace post, the search giant has announced message bubbles in the Chat message stream that lets users more easily differentiate between incoming and outgoing messages. It is supposedly among the most requested features amongst users as the current stream doesn't have any visual containers that can ideally separate the messages.
"Each incoming message will have an independent message bubble aligned to one side with a solid color background," the company mentioned in the Workspace post. Similarly, every outgoing message will have an independent bumble alongside another color background. The latest modernization of Google Chat comes in handy in group conversations as it would be easy to differentiate messages at a glance.
Like Slack, users can hit the new "Jump to the bottom" to check for the latest missed messages instead of scrolling down multiple times. Users in groups will be able to add their Google Docs and Google Sheets with previews and relevant captions again with a different color background as well as bubbles.
The update comes as an extension to what it announced for Google Chat in August. The messaging platform has gained many features, including the Duet AI that helps summarize missed conversations, amongst several others.
Google says that users will be able to see these updates in web and mobile versions of the Google Chat application over the next several weeks. The gradual rollout of the feature begins this week for the web and on September 27 for Android devices. The feature will be available to all Google Workspace customers and users with personal Google Accounts.
