Although Google Messages delivers a wide range of features, its overall design and user experience have long appeared somewhat outdated, particularly when compared with apps such as WhatsApp. The latter provides extensive chat personalization options, including the ability to use custom images as conversation backgrounds. While Google's messaging platform has not yet offered this capability, a report from April indicated that this could soon change.
Examining a recent beta version of Google Messages, the publication uncovered the presence of "Chat themes" within the three-dot menu, taking the place of the current "Change colors" setting.
The Chat themes section includes a variety of color choices, along with a collection of preloaded wallpapers supplied by Google, including Cityscape, Art, Landscape, Space, Vibes, Textures, and Abstract. The most notable addition is the Choose a photo option, which enables users to select an image from their Gallery and use it as a chat background.
The feature also includes a useful Reset to default button on the Preview screen for users who have explored the preset wallpaper categories and wish to return to the original settings. As the publication correctly notes, certain parts of a conversation may become difficult to see, particularly when a darker wallpaper is applied.
It remains to be seen whether Google Messages addresses this issue before the feature is rolled out more widely or leaves it up to users to select wallpapers that do not interfere with on-screen text and interface elements.
A similar capability is already available in Samsung Messages, which will be discontinued permanently in July, with Samsung encouraging users to transition to Google's messaging platform. As a result, Samsung Messages users frustrated by the absence of customizable chat backgrounds in Google Messages may welcome this forthcoming feature.
Apart from a minor issue involving darker wallpapers, the upcoming addition appears to function as intended. With that in mind, it is believed that the feature could arrive on the beta channel very soon, allowing a broader group of Google Messages users to test it.
Hopefully, Google will not delay bringing the feature to the stable release, especially since several competing messaging applications already provide comparable chat customization tools. The update would represent a major enhancement over the current customization system, which is limited to changing background and chat bubble colors while offering relatively few personalization choices.
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