Photo Credit: XDA Developers
Balloon effect, Angel effect, and Fireworks effect that are being tested in the Messages app
Google is reportedly testing Instagram and Snapchat like AR effects for its Messages app. The new feature can be found inside the Messages’ camera right next to the photo and video buttons. As everyone knows, Messages is the official messaging app from Google, which is found on its Pixel smartphones and Android One phones; and other Android users can download the same from the Google Play Store if they wish to. Google is constantly working on adding new features and improving the already existing ones, and with this latest addition, the users will be able to send pictures with the new AR effects right from the Messages app.
According to a report by XDA Developers, Messages is being tested with a new feature that will enable users to send pictures with Instagram and Snapchat like AR effects to their friends and family right from the inside the app. As of now, there are five camera effects that are being tested to choose from: plane, which shows the face of the user peeping out of the window of an animated aeroplane that flies away. The balloon effect shows balloons behind and in front of the user with good accuracy and separation. Next is the fireworks, which as the name suggests, shows fireworks in changing colours. Then comes the confetti effect, which can be used for a celebration and finally an angel filter, that adds a halo on the user’s head and a pair of wings behind the body.
Users will be able to use these effects to send pictures that will be taken from the Messages app and not from the regular camera app, in the form of SMS, MMS, or RCS, which depends on what a device supports. The report also mentions that these effects are very reminiscent of what Instagram and Snapchat offer, as they augment the user’s face and add effects to them. XDA adds, if the effects were of higher quality then in that case a person might not even be able to make out if the elements are fake or real.
There is no word on when this new feature will be rolled out to the general public. But one thing’s for sure that this move is definitely going to appeal and bring more users to Google’s Android Messages.