What you need to know
- A new feature has been quietly launched in the Google Messages app.
- The setting aims to send images faster by reducing the resolution.
- This may be useful for users who have data limits or limited storage.
Google Messages has a new feature that is rolling out to some users, which promises to send photos faster.
The “Send photos faster” toggle appears to be rolling out to users (via 9to5Google), and it has appeared on several of our devices. As he suggests, the idea behind the feature is to reduce the time it takes for the image to be delivered to the recipient. The way this is done is by reducing the resolution of the image.
I was able to test it with Android Central’s Nick Sutrich by sending the same image twice, once with the setting on and again off. With the setting on, the image appears to send two-thirds the resolution and half the file size. However, Sutrich noted that he couldn’t tell the visual difference between the two images, which is a good sign.
This feature can benefit some users since Google is pushing hard for RCS in its messaging app. When using RCS for messaging between Android phones, the media is sent at a higher quality than if it was sent via MMS. This new switch can reduce the data used to send images, which can be useful for users who may have poor data reception. It can also benefit the recipient by reducing the file size of budget Android devices with low storage space.
Oddly, the setting is toggled automatically. You can switch it on by clicking on the thumbnail of your Google account and going to the Messages settings. The feature should be under the bubble toggle if you have it.
We detected the feature on our devices using beta versions of Google Messages, although not every device on the latest version received the tweak.