Android Users Will Eventually Be Able to Edit and Unsend Text Messages

Sometimes, we regret things. Sometimes, we’re caught up in typing thoughts and feelings and forget to edit ourselves before pressing send. Sometimes, the consequences of our actions are too much to deal with, especially in interpersonal relationships. Sometimes, we wish we could go back in time and start over.

I’m not saying that RCS, the messaging protocol that binds Androids and Apples, offers the kind of magic that lets you go back in time and retract a boo-boo. But I have seen the light on the iOS side of life and the relief and deliverance of being able to edit or delete a text message for everyone, not just yourself. According to 9to5Google, Google Messages is readying support for this feature. That’s right: deleting, editing, and recalling messages is on the docket for a future version of Android’s default messaging app, which means harmony with our iPhone-using brothers and sisters. When an Android person deletes something out of regret, it can be deleted for everyone involved in the conversation. If only there were this much peace-making in the real world.

9to5Google dug into some beta code for Google Messages and found mention of compliance with the Universal Profile 2.7, introduced last summer by the GSMA, to help bring the global industry up to speed. Specific text strings refer to messaging options that don’t currently exist, including “Delete for me” and “Delete for everyone.” Version 2.7 also enables replies and reactions to work more seamlessly between platforms. When you reply to a thread from an iOS user currently, it will appear in line with the original message on the Android user’s side. But on the iOS side, it gets messier and crowded, as they’ll have to deal with extra text explaining what you’re replying to. The update to the new Universal Profile would streamline this so that both sides experience similar visual feedback.

The populace hopes that Apple will eventually comply once the updated profiles are rolled into Google Messages between Android users. Apple’s RCS integration to iOS 18 has been a boon for cross-platform relations. Last year, Apple acquiesced to the existence of Green Bubbles by enabling high-resolution video and audio exchange and better group chat materialization without reliance on MMS. To get up to speed with editing messages when they become available, all Apple has to do is push out a software update. Whether it’s willing to do that is another matter. Anyway, there’s no point in griping about whether Apple will comply until Google confirms that this ability is coming to the Android platform, which it has not yet done.