Google Messages has started testing a much-anticipated feature: the ability to delete sent messages. Unlike competitors such as Telegram, WhatsApp, and Apple’s iMessage—which already offer this functionality—Google Messages had yet to implement message deletion, despite early February rumors suggesting the feature was on the way.
According to user reports on Reddit, the feature is now being rolled out to a limited number of users participating in the app’s latest beta version. Reddit user @seeareeff shared evidence of the feature in action.
Currently, the option to delete a sent message appears under very specific conditions: in group chats with 12 or more participants. It does not appear in smaller group chats or individual conversations. Users still have the ability to delete a message only for themselves.
RCS message delete is also rolling out to beta people.
byu/seeareeff inGoogleMessages
The expectation is that the feature will become more broadly available upon official release, potentially working across all conversation types regardless of the number of participants.
Previous leaks indicated that users may have up to 15 minutes to delete a sent message. This aligns with the introduction of message deletion support in version 2.7 of the RCS Universal Profile, which Google seems to be leveraging to bring this capability to its app. As with WhatsApp, deleted messages will likely be marked to indicate they were removed.
Although testing is at an advanced stage, a general release may take time. When message editing was introduced last year, Google required several months to move from testing to full rollout in the stable version of the app.
Nonetheless, development of Google Messages remains active. Recent updates include protections against unsolicited explicit images, design improvements, and support for sending photos in original quality.
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