Google Messages is getting a big update in 2026 — here are the 3 new WhatsApp-style features to look out for

There's always something going on at Google Messages, and after its slew of updates in 2025, the WhatsApp rival is preparing for even more upgrades in 2026 – including a group chat tool it's needed for years.

Last year, Google rolled out several handy upgrades to Messages, all of which show that it's serious about improving the standard of its messaging platform. From RCS invites to its design upgrades and its 'Delete for everyone' option, Google Messages has come a long way over the past 12 months.

However, it's not stopping there. Google knows that there's even more room for improvement, and we're expecting more changes to drop in 2026. Most of its upcoming features are still in beta testing, but we're pretty confident that it'll only be a matter of time before every Google Messages user will have access to these three practical and, let's face it, long-overdue functions.

Mentions in RCS group chats

@mention in Google Messages! from r/GoogleMessages

When it comes to chat @mentions, platforms such as WhatsApp are leaps and bounds ahead. Now, Google Messages is finally getting its own version for group chats, but it should've had it a long time ago. We first came across mentions in group chats via the Reddit post above back in November, which appears to still be in its beta testing period.

Mentions are one of the best ways to get the attention of members in a group chat, especially when they've missed a message or are deliberately ignoring your burning questions, which is more often the case. When you use the @mentions feature in a group chat, it will send that specific member a notification even if their chat notifications are disabled – so there are no excuses for not replying.

An improved long-press menu

Google Message rolling out the new context menu from r/GoogleMessages

More recently, Google Messages has given its long-press menu for texts a makeover, replacing its toolbar function with a floating menu packed with the following new options: Remix (photos only), Reply, Forward, Copy (for text), Star, Delete, Select more, Info, and Save (for photos).

Previously, most of these options were hidden away under the old toolbar, so the idea of the new long-press menu is to make these hard-to-reach functions more navigable for users. This has cropped up in the latest beta version of Google Messages for a large number of users, so we're expecting a wider rollout sometime this year.

New camera viewfinder

Another new improvement that Google Messages has rolled out is its camera and gallery viewfinder upgrade on Android, which is already available to all users in the stable version of the chat service.

Now, the camera viewfinder is a lot shorter than before, allowing more display room for your photos in the gallery interface (you can now view two full rows of images). You can still swipe up on the gallery view to access your full photo library, so that's not going anywhere.

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