Google Messages users have been able to edit their chats for over two years, but there’s always been a big caveat. Message editing only works for chats that are sent using Rich Communication Services (RCS), not those sent via SMS or MMS. Previously, RCS adoption wasn’t widespread enough to count on the message editing feature in Google Messages. Now that many phones and carriers natively support RCS in Google Messages, there’s a good chance that the app’s message editing button will actually do what you expect it to.
There are a handful of message editing limitations that make me avoid using the feature altogether. The Google Messages version of the message editing feature has familiar restrictions to consider. These include time limits, supported device lists, and platform restrictions. If you forget the fine print, the recipients of your edited messages won’t receive them properly, and you’ll never know it. Before starting to edit RCS messages in the Google Messages app, this is what you need to know.
Settings I should’ve changed on day one.
Google Messages is finally catching up with iMessage and Apple Messages, and the app has RCS to thank. Rich Communication Services (RCS) is the modern alternative to the Short Message Service (SMS) and the Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), which are both ancient texting standards. RCS is cross-platform and supports new features like typing indicators, read receipts, and message editing. To use the message editing feature, both the sender and recipient must have RCS enabled.
While RCS is upgrading conversations between iPhone and Android users, the message editing tool specifically works better for Android-to-Android chats. Google Messages conversations with Android phones on both sides of the chat will see messages replace the original text with the edited text. Meanwhile, iPhone users can’t edit RCS messages using the Google Messages protocol. Android users messaging iPhone users can edit texts using Google Messages, but the edited text will appear on the other end as a new message — not as replaced text.
If that sounds confusing, that’s because it is. RCS is a major step forward, but iOS and Android messaging still isn’t as interoperable as it should be. As a result, Google Messages’ editing feature is most reliable when it is used in RCS chats entirely composed of Android users. Throw in an iPhone user or switch to SMS/MMS, and the polished experience goes away.
Editing a message in Google Messages is easy. Say you open an RCS chat, fire off a message, and notice it has a typo. You can hold down the message bubble and tap the pencil icon near the top of the screen. Edit the original message in the text field, and tap the checkmark. It’s pretty simple, as long as you follow a very specific set of rules.
The most important Google Messages editing restriction is the time limit. You only have 15 minutes after the original RCS chat was sent to edit it. The functionality expires after 15 minutes, and you won’t see that pencil icon for older chats. Moreover, editing a message doesn’t erase the original message’s contents — even if it hasn’t been opened by the recipient.
In fact, you can see the full edit history of an RCS chat in the Google Messages app in seconds. Hold down the edited message, tap the three-dot menu near the top of the screen, and press View details. The exact flow might vary based on your Google Messages app version and layout. Either way, when you reach the message details page, you can see the full history of edits, including the original message. Some users think message editing is a way to remove all traces of an original message, but that isn’t the case.
Google says that the editing feature in Messages works in RCS chats with iPhone users, and group RCS chats — even when some users’ devices lack support for the feature. This is technically true, but it’s a stretch. Editing a message in these cases simply sends the new version as a separate RCS text, denoted by an asterisk. You’ve edited the message on your end, but the text replacement doesn’t appear for the recipient.
Google Messages’ editing feature is a mixed bag. It’s useful on paper, but the fine print seems to rule out most situations. You need to have an Android-to-Android RCS chat and edit it within 15 minutes to actually replace the original text in Google Messages. Even still, the recipient can open up the message details page to see the original text, and there’s nothing you can do about it. For iPhone users and cross-platform RCS group chats, the edited messages are sent as separate RCS texts. You can’t edit messages using the Google Messages web client, either.
I think the editing tool in Google Messages is nice for fixing the occasional typo, but it won’t completely claw back a text you regret sending. No matter what, the original message will still be visible on the other end. Since the sender doesn’t see how the recipient gets their edited messages, it’s easy to put too much faith in what is a limited Google Messages feature.
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