A new UI for sharing content via Google Messages is being pushed out in waves
Last October, Google tested a new UI for those who share content via the Google Messages platform. You know how that’s done, right? You tap the share icon on the content you want to send to someone and that opens the share sheet. From the share sheet, tap on Google Messages. You are taken to a page called Select conversations with a list of the people with whom you most recently messaged. You can select one of those names to share with, tap on New message to send your content as a completely new message or send it to someone not on the list.
Per 9to5Google, following a minor update, when you choose Google Messages from the share sheet on your Android device, you will see a page that says “Select recipients.” This page shows you the previous five conversations you have had using Google Messages with a very small slice of the last sent message from each conversation. Underneath the last conversation is a link that reads, “More recent conversations;” tap on it to see your entire Messages history. If you’re looking for a specific recipient and don’t want to go scrolling through your complete Messages history, there is a search icon on the upper right side of the screen that can be tapped.
Old UI for Google Messages sharing on the left, the new UI can be seen in the middle and on the right.
If you’re looking to share with more than one Google Messages recipient at a time, you can add the other names by tapping on the circle found on the right of each listing and a checkmark will appear. At the top of the page, you’ll see the profile icon of each person who will receive the content you are sharing. At the bottom right of the screen is a “Next” floating action button that you press to continue with the process.
The new UI has yet to appear on my Pixel 6 Pro running the latest Android 15 beta. It seems that Google has not yet disseminated the updated UI to all Android users although the distribution of it has picked up over the last few weeks. 9to5Google says that those signed up to the Google Messages beta channel are receiving the update.