Google’s New Messages Feature Can Save You From Group Chat Mix-Ups

Google Messages is getting a new group chat feature, with the ability to add a custom icon to chats. Google officially announced the details of this new feature as part of the Android Feature Drop, and it should begin hitting devices today, while continuing to roll out to devices throughout the week. That being said, Google has not confirmed the exact release timeline of these new features. Group chats in Google Messages are far from new, but up until now, it hasn’t been possible to give those chats a custom icon.

With this new feature, it should be a lot easier to distinguish each group chat from one another. Google Messages group chats already looked a little different as they would have multiple icons in one single icon. Basically, it would show a grouping of the icons for several people in the chat. It was easy to tell the difference between these and chats with a singular user. However, if you have multiple group chats going, it can also be just as easy to mix those group chats up.

Set up a custom icon for your Google Messages group chat

While it will now be possible to set up a custom icon for group chats in Google Messages, it’s important to note that this is for RCS group chats. So, you will need to make sure that this is enabled in Google Messages on your device.

This can be done in two ways. First, if you already have an RCS group chat going, you can change the icon to something you prefer. Perhaps something that relates to that chat. The other way is for new group chats. If you’re setting up a new RCS group chat, you’ll be given the choice to use a custom icon. Google doesn’t seem to mention that everyone in the chat is required to have RCS enabled. So, it’s likely that you can change or choose a custom icon as long as it’s enabled for you.

Snooze notifications when you want some peace and quiet

Just like you can snooze notifications for apps, you will now be able to snooze notifications for specific group chats. This should be extremely useful. Think about it. Sometimes, group chats can get out of hand with how many people are in them. If there are enough people talking, you might be getting several notifications in short spans of time. This can be annoying, but maybe you don’t want to mute Google Messages entirely. Now, you won’t have to.

Google says that specific group chats can be muted on a case-by-case basis. In other words, you can mute some and not others. On top of this, it’s possible to choose the duration you want the chat muted for. Maybe you only want it muted for a couple of hours, for example. These new Google Messages features were announced alongside the launch of Android 16. Unlike the Android 16-specific features, however, these will be available to all Android users. If you’re on an Android 16-compatible device, you can check your Android 16 download availability by heading to the settings menu.