iMessage reaction is rolling out to Android users. According to an online report, the feature is available in the new beta for Google Messages. For the unaware, iPhone users can add reactions to a message. This could be a heart, thumbs up, thumbs down, a laugh, a question mark, or an exclamation. However, these reactions appear as text when sent to an Android user whose default messaging app is Google Messages.
Reactions can also be used on “green bubble” messages from Android users. However, Android may not always interpret them correctly and it can lead to awkwardness. For example, if a user sends a heart a message from an iPhone, it shows in a text to an Android user as [Person] “Loved”.
As per a Droid-Life report, beta users of Google Messages will now be able to receive emoji reactions as they are sent by an iPhone user. They will no longer see that annoying “Loved…Liked..” text. The feature was first spotted in November 2021. A report by 9to5Google then said the codes spotted in Google Messages beta suggested that Android users will be able to use reactions as emoji characters instead of text even though they don’t use iMessage.
It is notable that while iPhone users can react to messages received from Android phones, Android users can not react to iMessage users. This is because Apple’s messaging stand does not support Google’s RCS standard.
