Google Messages may have just stolen a major time-saving feature from iMessage

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Google seems to be on a mission at the moment to make its Google Messages app a more powerful competitor to the likes of Apple's iMessage and Meta's WhatsApp. The company has added several new features, including adding emoji effect animations and the option to make your green bubbles blue.

Those features are nice, but convincing people to upgrade to one of the best Android phones demands apps with substance as much as style. And a pair of screenshots posted to X by user Jhow_kira suggest a big change coming to Google Messages that could be a massive time saver for Android phone users.

The post details the upcoming option to edit messages after they've been sent — something possible on both WhatsApp and iMessage. Apparently, some Android users (including this X user) are testing the new feature at the moment.

and the editing limit is 15 minutes and the original message appears in the details pic.twitter.com/6MkZ3yxZzZMay 10, 2024

Editing a sent message involves long-pressing the message they wish to change and and then tapping on a pencil icon that appears in the top toolbar. While the original message can still be accessed from the overflow menu, this new addition to Google Messages will let people quickly amend a typo or change a detail without having to send an entirely new message. Imagine the cumulative time saved by not needing extra messages to clarify a different time or spell someone's name correctly.

Messages will be open to edit up to 15 minutes after they've been sent and both the sender and recipient need to have the edit message feature in order for it to function.

Screenshots showing Google Messages editing feature — (Image credit: X/Jhow_kira)

Sadly, it's not clear exactly when this feature will be introduced to Google Messages — but given iMessage has had the same functionality since iOS 16 in 2022, hopefully Google won't hang about.

Of course, there's the small matter of Google I/O happening today, May 14, which could potentially provide a few more details on this new feature. The event will kick off at 1pm ET / 10am PT / 6pm BST and you can watch along with Google's live feed of the I/O keynote. And, of course, we'll be unpacking all the best new features following the announcements, so here's a look at all the things we're expecting to hear about at today's event.

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Jeff is UK Editor-in-Chief for Tom’s Guide looking after the day-to-day output of the site’s British contingent. Rising early and heading straight for the coffee machine, Jeff loves nothing more than dialling into the zeitgeist of the day’s tech news.

A tech journalist for over a decade, he’s travelled the world testing any gadget he can get his hands on. Jeff has a keen interest in fitness and wearables as well as the latest tablets and laptops. A lapsed gamer, he fondly remembers the days when problems were solved by taking out the cartridge and blowing away the dust.