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Google Messages jazzes up read receipts with new animation and location (APK teardown)
- Google appears to have started the rollout of the Messages read receipt redesign.
- The redesign moves the checkmarks from outside the bubble to inside the bubble.
- The read receipt has also received a new animation.
Earlier this year, it was reported that Google was working on a change to read receipts within the Messages app. Now it looks like that change is starting to roll out for some users, and it appears it has received a new animation as well.
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.
A read receipt is an indicator that tells you that your message is being sent, is sent, was received, and was read. These four states are represented by a timer, single check, double check, and color-filled double check, respectively. In the current version of Google Messages, read receipts usually appear below the text bubble, sandwiched between the time/date and RCS encryption lock icon.
As mentioned earlier, there was a report back in August about read receipts being relocated to a new position. Instead of sitting outside and below the text bubble, Google moved the receipt to be inside the bubble. We have now seen this change in the latest Google Messages app beta (version messages.android_20241029_00_RC00.phone_samsung_openbeta_dynamic), which you can see in the video above. But more importantly, it looks like the change is starting to roll out to some users.
The relocation isn’t the only new thing here, however. If you watch closely, Google has given the read receipt a new little animation. The video above provides a close-up of this animation in action.