A possible upcoming feature in the Google Messages app could make ugly jumbled iPhone-Android conversations a thing of the past.<\/b>
\nIf you\u2019ve ever texted with an Android user, you know who conversations can quickly get overrun with \u201cJason laughed at\u201d this or \u201cRoman liked\u201d that messages. As soon as an Android user joins a group conversation, Apple\u2019s iMessage reaction expressions turn to text prompts so no one misses out on what\u2019s happening. That might be changing in a future Google Messages update. According to 9to5Google, who has dug through the APK for a beta version (10.7) of the app\u2019s APK, Google has changed expressions such as \u201cLiked,\u201d \u201cEmphasized,\u201d and \u201cLaughed\u201d to \u201cios_reaction_classification\u201d and \u201cShow iPhone reactions as emoji\u201d as well as \u201cios_reactions_mapping.\u201d It\u2019s not entirely clear how the new reactions would work, but it seems as though Google is working on changing the way reactions are transposed by Android phones using Google Messages. Based on 9to5Google\u2019s understanding, Messages will be tagged with a heart emoji rather than \u201cLiked\u201d and won\u2019t need to repeat the entire message. Rather, the appropriate emoji would appear under the original message similar to how it works with iPhone users. Granted, there are a lot of unknowns here. For one, the feature may never be released. For another, we don\u2019t know exactly what Google is doing here so we\u2019ll need to see it in action. And it might strictly be an on-device Google Message feature that doesn\u2019t change what iPhone users see on the other side. But for the first time in years, it seems like Google is recognizing that Android users text a lot with iPhone users and the experience isn\u2019t great. Since Apple isn\u2019t about to change the way iMessages works to accommodate Android users, Google might finally be taking matters into its own hands. Note: When you purchase something after clicking links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. Read our affiliate link policy for more details.<\/p>\n