Google is testing an “official chat” inside Google Messages that invites users to accept or reject a card at the top of the app and then start an RCS chat with a chatbot about new Google Messages features. The beta code suggests you’ll be able to unsubscribe l
For anyone who’s ever stared at a new app update and thought, “Wait—what changed?”, Google may be about to make the next round of feature rollouts feel a lot more conversational.
Inside a recent Google Messages open beta version. hidden in the app’s code. references have been spotted for something Google is testing: an “official chat” that isn’t just a broadcast of updates. Instead, it’s meant to let users discuss the messenger’s latest features directly through a chat interface.
The feature is expected to show up first as a card at the top of the messages list. When it appears, users will be asked to “Accept” or “Reject” the invitation to join the chat. If they accept. a new RCS chat is initiated with a chatbot—presumably one built to answer questions about new Google Messages features.
Nothing about the preview is expected to be dramatic on day one. The chatbot doesn’t appear ready to deliver big news immediately, but the idea is that messages about changes would arrive once the feature is live more broadly.
What makes the test different from typical update channels is the promise of two-way clarity: Google would let users ask relevant questions and, ideally, answer them in a way that users find useful.
And if the whole thing starts to feel like noise instead of help, there’s an off-ramp. The test suggests there will be an option to Unsubscribe if users decide they no longer want the chat alerts.
Google is likely to limit this first to features and updates in Google Messages. Still. based on how other apps sometimes cross-promote. there’s a possibility that other Google apps and services could be promoted in the same place later. A more useful version—customer support built directly into the chat—is also possible in theory. but it’s currently just wishful thinking.
This kind of work is often guided by what’s already in motion under the hood. An APK teardown helps predict what could arrive in the future based on work-in-progress code, but it’s also possible that some planned features won’t make it to a public release.
Google Messages RCS chat chatbot Android apps app updates open beta APK teardown Google Messages features