It looks like Google is working on an editing feature for Google Messages that will let you alter RCS texts after they’ve been sent. This is based on four strings of code found by TheSpAndroid in the latest Google Messages Beta that reference editing.
These are:
- bugle.enable_edit_ui
- bugle.load_edit_history
- bugle.process_outgoing_edits
- bugle.process_incoming_edits
We can’t see what this feature might look like in practice yet, but the strings suggest that the app will be able to send and receive edits to messages, and will also show you the history of an edited message – so you can see what was sent before and after it was edited.
We also don’t know how editing itself will work. Some services only let you edit a message a set number of times, while others give you a time limit within which to alter the message, and some have no restrictions.
No matter how Google Messages editing shapes out, this tool will be a big get for the app – especially for people like me, who constantly send texts riddled with spelling errors. That is, if it ever actually launches – as with all leaks, there’s no guarantee it will happen.
Another win for RCS?
This upgrade would follow several big updates for the messaging app that have rolled out this year, including end-to-end encryption and a visual overhaul.
Unfortunately, there’s no indication of when this Google Messages feature will launch, so we might be waiting a while, or it could arrive very soon. There’s also no guarantee that editing will ever come to Google Messages until an official announcement is made – that said, with Google trying to make its messaging service the preferred pick over the likes of WhatsApp and others (with some of these apps already offering message editing) it seems likely that adding message editing is a matter of when and not if.
It’s also yet to be seen if this feature will be baked into the RCS standard, or will be a feature of Google Messages specifically. If it’s the former, then this editing tool would also come to iMessage and iPhones when Apple finally adopts RCS next year; if it’s the latter, Google might end up creating its own two-tiered system like the one it has long accused Apple of creating with its green/blue bubble messaging – with Android RCS users getting a superior experience.
