Android users will finally be able to interact more easily with emoji reactions sent by Apple iMessage users. Right now, if Google Messages app users message someone on Apple’s iMessage platform and they get a response with a reaction to the message, what they don’t actually get is an emoji. They instead get a “Loved” or “Liked” text followed by the original message. However, this is about to change.
According to a report from Droid-Life, the Google Messages Beta is getting a new feature that allows a user to finally see a reaction from an iPhone user. The app now displays an emoji instead of a “Liked” text, and the Google app converts a reaction sent by an iMessage user to an appropriate emoji on Android. Up until now, the feature was in the testing phase with a limited number of users, but it has started rolling out in the beta for Google Messages.
If you are on Google Messages beta, you can toggle the new option by going to Settings > Advanced > Show iPhone reactions as emoji. It’s nice to finally see this implementation, but the feature isn’t perfect. A “laughing” reaction from an iMessage user will be displayed as an equivalent emoji (in this case, the “face with tears of joy” emoji for Android users). It’s essentially a translation that tries to find the closest suitable, appropriate emoji rather than a true integration.
Notably, the new feature also only works one way. An Android user cannot react to the messages sent by an Apple person using iMessage. As Android Authority notes, Apple will have to support the RCS standard or create its own workaround to support reactions on iMessage from Google Messages. We wouldn’t count on that happening anytime soon.
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