Google Messages Begins Texting Users About Its Own Features, With an Unsubscribe Option

The messages began appearing earlier in September, according to the report. They show up as a conversation in the user's inbox labeled "Google Messages," marked with a checkmark and using the Messages app icon as the profile picture. The Android Authority writer received one on Sept. 18 reminding users that photos and videos sent over RCS are higher in quality than those sent by standard SMS.

The thread looks like an ordinary text conversation, but recipients cannot type and send their own messages to Google. They can only use pre-made replies such as "Tell me more."

According to the report, users who do not want the texts can stop them before they begin. Google displays a pop-up at the top of the Messages app reading "Join the official chat for all future features and media updates." Tapping "No thanks" on that pop-up prevents the messages from being sent.

For users who never see the pop-up or who tap "Continue," Android Authority describes a manual unsubscribe path: open the Google Messages conversation, tap the three dots in the upper-right corner, tap Unsubscribe, select a reason for unsubscribing, and tap Unsubscribe again. Google then sends a confirmation message acknowledging the unsubscription and explaining how to resubscribe if the user changes their mind.

Unsubscribing does not remove the conversation from the Messages inbox. To delete it, the report says users must tap the three dots once more, tap Trash, and then tap Move to trash.

The Android Authority writer described the texts as spam in their own case, writing that people who do not follow Messages news closely might find them a reasonable way to keep up with new features, while others may see only another unwanted thread in an inbox that already collects text spam.

Google has not commented publicly on the messages in the report, which was published as a how-to guide for unsubscribing rather than a statement from the company.

Editor's Summary

Google has begun using the business chat feature in Google Messages to text users about new app features, with the messages arriving from a verified "Google Messages" thread that allows only pre-made replies. Users can decline a pop-up invitation to join the chat or unsubscribe through the conversation's menu, though the thread stays in the inbox until it is moved to trash. The report comes from Android Authority and describes the messages as spam from the writer's perspective.