Google Messages begins global rollout of new features

Google Messages continues to test and release new features, but not all users receive them at the same time

Pareesa Afreen - Nov 30, 2025

An undated image of the Google Messages app. — Google

Google Messages has introduced many updates this year, but the rollout is happening in stages. This means some features are already available for many users, while others remain in testing or limited beta channels.

Gadinsider has got you an update on what features have been rolled out yet for the users to test.

Google Messages features rolling out widely

These updates are confirmed to be appearing for many users across different regions:

Remix with Nano Banana

A new AI-powered tool that lets users change images using Google's Nano Banana model.

Rolling out now in English to users in the US, UK, India, Canada, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand. RCS must be enabled.

Spam link detection

Google Messages now warns users when tapping on suspicious links and blocks access to unsafe websites.

Key verifier

A security feature used to confirm whether a contact’s identity is real using encryption keys. Useful in protection against SIM-swap scams.

Camera and gallery icon tweaks

The gallery icon is simplified in look, and the UI is cleaner now.

Fullscreen account menu

Google Messages has moved to a full Material 3 Expressive design with a full-screen menu for Settings, Spam & Blocked, archived messages, and device pairing.

These updates are marked as part of Google's broader stable rollout and are already visible to a large number of users.

Google Messages features rolling out slowly (limited or beta release)

Some of these features have started to appear for some users, but not everyone will see them yet:

Link preview redesign

Larger cover image, bolder title, favicon, but minus the article snippet. YouTube PiP is back.

@Mentions in Group Chats

Users can mention someone directly, even to get a notification when all notifications are muted.

To date, this feature has only been spotted by a handful of users on Reddit.

MLS-based encryption

Next-generation Rich Communication Services (RCS) encryption, also known as Messaging Layer Security, supports Android and iOS end-to-end encrypted messaging.

This feature is still in the testing phase and appears for some users only.