There is a new update for the Android Messages app for Android rolling out in the Play Store today. Frankly there isn’t anything very interesting about the update from a user perspective but what is in the code is quite interesting. It appears that there is code now in the app that would allow for a Allo-like web experience for Messages. This could allow for sending and receiving of text messages from your desktop.
The code was discovered by the team over at Android Police in a tear down of the new version of the app. It appears that, like Allo, you will scan a QR code to sync your computer with your phone and be able to send and receive messages on both. This feature isn’t something new. Google Hangouts still has this feature if you are a Project Fi user and use Hangouts as your SMS app (SMS in Hangouts isn’t supported anymore outside of Fi). Instead, it would be a return of a feature and that is a great thing.
Obviously this would also allow for Android Messages to have a similar experience to what iOS and Mac users have with iMessage which again, is a good thing. Having the ability to send messages from your desktop while you are working is a huge time saver and allows you to stay focused on your computer and not switching (i.e. losing productivity) between devices.
While the code is in this new version of Messages, there isn’t any indicator on when it will actually be lit up and usable. Much like commits in Android and Chrome OS code, just because it is there doesn’t mean it is going to be used so don’t get too excited just yet. But it is certainly an interesting development and personally, I’d welcome this feature.
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