GOOGLE has put a lot of love into its native Messages app this year.
So much so that Android users may say “goodbye” to rivals like WhatsApp.
Google Messages may soon have a noise cancellation button, according to a TheSpAndroid blog, which will reduce background sound in voice notes and calls.
The new feature is still in beta development, but it is hoped to be rolled out to Android devices soon.
In response to the new feature, one X (formerly Twitter) user said: “And goodbye WhatsApp and Telegram?”
The noise cancellation button is just the latest update to the Messages app.
In August, Google made RCS – Rich Communication Services – the default on the Messages app.
This means users can share high-res photo, see read receipts and have the content of their texts protected by end-to-end encryption.
A month later, Google gave Messages a homescreen redesign.
Like WhatsApp, and Apple’s iMessage, Google Messages has emoji reactions, YouTube videos that play inside the app and the ability to text from a phone or Chrombook.
“Google messages will be the next WhatsApp, Viber or Telegram. Mark my word,” one Android fan tweeted at the weekend.
Another wrote: “I don’t understand why people download WhatsApp while iMessages and Google Messages are pre-installed on their device.
“Why WhatsApp? I don’t trust Meta as I do with Apple or Google.”
But others aren’t convinced on shelving WhatsApp forever.
While Messages has come a long way, the user interface (UI) is not very user-friendly.
“People with Google Messages as default can still use WhatsApp and telegram since the Google Messages app is a mess and has horrible UI,” a fourth X user tweeted.
Although, the thing holding other users back is that “everyone will still use WhatsApp… otherwise I would absolutely switch to Google Messages,” according to another tweet.
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