Google Messages' latest experiment makes RCS chats stand out in the home screen

What you need to know

• Google Messages is testing adding a new visual indicator to make RCS chats easier to point out.
• A prominent badge will appear in the bottom-right corner of a profile avatar in the conversation list to indicate which chats support RCS.
• The new visual indicator has been spotted in the latest beta release of Google Messages.

Google Messages is making it easier to see which of your chats are using RCS right on the home screen.

The latest beta release of Google Messages (version 20230615_02_RC00) contains evidence pointing to a new badge that highlights RCS chats in the app's home screen (conversation list), as spotted by 9to5Google. If you're one of the beta testers, chances are that you'll see a small Messages icon in the bottom right corner of a user's avatar in the conversation list.

As seen in the screenshot below, the icon is a simplified version of the Messages logo, and it is colored according to your phone's default color scheme. The visual indicator makes it easier to identify which of your chats are using the latest messaging standard.

RCS offers a number of features that are not available with SMS, such as typing indicators, read receipts, and larger file attachments in order to compete with the top messaging apps. Google hopes that by highlighting RCS chats with a badge, it will be easier to distinguish between RCS and SMS chats. Currently, you cannot do so without first opening an individual chat to see if it supports RCS or not.

(Image credit: 9to5Google)

The new badge is apparently being tested in the beta version of Google Messages for the time being. It is not yet clear when it will be rolled out to the general public, but it is a safe bet that the feature will make it to a stable release in the future.

As it stands, RCS chats are already far ahead of traditional SMS in terms of features. In April, Google was spotted testing a read receipt feature in the conversation list to highlight which messages had been sent. However, read receipts have yet to launch on the stable channel.

If you are using Google Messages, you can enable RCS chats by tapping your profile picture and navigating to Message settings. After that, tap "RCS chats" and you will be taken to a screen where you can activate the feature.