Sending Emojis in Google Messages Will Now Play a Fun Animation
Full-screen message effects are one of the most enjoyable features to use in iMessage, and they’re now becoming much easier to use in Google Messages for Android too. In the latest Google Messages beta, these full-screen effects will now automatically play for you (and your texting partner if they’re also in the beta) when you send them certain emojis in Google Messages for Android. This makes them a little easier to use than Apple’s version of the feature, which can only be activated by certain phrases (eg: “Happy New Year”) or by long pressing the Send button and manually selecting an effect. Google has previously implemented full-screen effects for certain phrases , but this time all you have to do is send a single emoji to activate them.
How to Use Android Full Screen Message Effects
For now, Google is still testing this new way to send full-screen message effects, which means you’ll have to become a Google Messages beta tester to try them out. To do this, either follow this link or go to the Google Messages page on the Play Store , click ” Become a tester ” and follow the onscreen instructions. Once the beta launches, simply send the corresponding emoji to any of your contacts to activate the corresponding full-screen effect. Message effects are not available for every single emoji, but they work with many commonly used ones, such as clap, sleep, party, etc.
Note that you will need to limit the text to one emoji to see the effect. If you send an emoji along with some text or more than one emoji, it won’t work (previous versions of this feature required you to send two of the same emoji to trigger the effect, although I couldn’t get this to work in the new beta). Personally, I really like the way these effects look. It’s like watching a short animated video the moment you send an emoji, which creates really nice feedback.
How to disable full-screen effects in Google Messages
Unless you find yourself frequently sending or receiving texts that only have one emoji, these effects probably won’t appear so often that you’ll have to turn them off. However, if they start to annoy you, you can easily turn them off. In Google Messages, tap your profile icon and select Settings . Turn off Show Expressive Animations to avoid seeing full-screen effects.