If yesterday we saw how Google Chat already allows us to mark a message as unread now we see how Google Messages, the company’s other messaging application, is preparing important improvements in its next version.
The source code of its latest update gives us clues about its next two new releases. Messages and Google prepares to improve compatibility with iMessage reactions and to show us if it is the birthday of the person we are chatting with.
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IMessage reactions as emoji
With the applications of Google Messages and iMessage Apple, your users can send messages to each other via SMS / MMS, but the iMessage reactions they are currently not very well resolved in Google Messages.
If any iMessage user makes a reaction about a message, photo or video, the Google Messages user does not get that reaction, but takes a text message like:
> I liked an image
> He emphasized “We are on our way”
This is somewhat confusing and on Android conversations are filled with reaction texts that sometimes are already out of context if someone on iOS reacts hours later to a message. To solve this Google wants to turn iMessage reactions into emojis, or that’s what the source code of the application says.
In the code there are references to a new function for classifying iMessage reactions whose description says it is for ‘show iPhone reactions as emoji’. Another function called ‘ios_reactions_mapping’ seems like it will map iOS reactions to display correctly.
Apparently Google will convert an iMessage reaction to an equivalent emoji, but it is unknown how these emojis will be displayed from Apple’s reactions in conversations. The most logical thing would be that they will be shown as the reactions of Google Messages, in the same message.
Birthday reminders
Finally, the other novelty that already appears hidden in the latest version of Google Messages are the birthday reminders. When we open a conversation, the application will show us if it is the birthday of our contact with the notice ‘Wish him a happy birthday!’ and the animation of the birthday cake that we see on these lines. For this we will have to have added the birthday of our contact in our calendar, or that the contact has put his birthday date publicly in his profile.
Via | 9to5Google
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