If you’re getting tired of annoying spam texts and shady links that often try to lure you into clicking them on your Messages app, you may be in luck. Found hidden in the code are signs that Google is stepping up security in its Messages app to give users an extra layer of protection.
A new pop-up warning system could be coming soon to Messages. This feature is designed to make you think twice before clicking on links in messages from people you don’t know, whether they’re coming through RCS or standard old SMS.
Imagine this: you get a text from an unknown number with some enticing link. Curiosity takes over, and you go to tap it. This new feature will immediately pop up a warning that says something like this: “Caution: this sender isn’t one of your contacts.” To open that link, you have to check a box acknowledging that there could be risks and then hit “Continue.”
The idea is to make you think twice before clicking on links sent by senders you don’t know. This would hopefully snap us out of autopilot mode and make us consider twice whether those links are worth exploring.
Google Messages already has some link warnings, but this new feature looks more robust. Currently, it’s easy to breeze past those messages. This new system adds a little friction, forcing you to stop and think before taking a potentially risky action.
This feature popped up in a beta version of Google Messages, so we might see it rolling out to testers before landing in the main app. It’s yet another sign, on top of Google recently blocking RCS on rooted phones, that they’re taking security in the Messages app more seriously — and just in time for RCS to roll out for iOS devices, potentially giving the Google Messages app on Android a boost over third party solutions like WhatsApp.