Summary
- Google Messages had a feature that allowed users to unsubscribe easily from spam texts, but removed it in select regions.
- The unsubscribe button will no longer be available inside texts for users in the US and Spain.
- Despite this change, Google Messages still offers many useful features for users.
Earlier this year, Google started rolling out an excellent feature for Google Messages that made it easy to block and delete spam texts. Whenever you receive an unwanted message, you can tap an unsubscribe button that automatically tries to opt out. Sounds great, right? Unfortunately, in a surprising turn of events, Google just removed it.
By a show of hands, who enjoys getting junk and spam texts? I’ll wait. These days, we’re all familiar with those unwanted text messages from a business, political campaign, charity, or scam. Those automated messages go out by the millions daily, and we’re all sick of them.
Related
Google Messages has improved dramatically over the last year. In late April, Google added a nifty “unsubscribe” button that made killing junk messages easier than ever. While it was only available for beta testers, tons of users, including me, rely on it daily. Sadly, as spotted by Android Authority, the feature is no longer available and is MIA from the app.
The way it works is simple. Whenever you get one of those unwanted messages and Google realizes it’s likely spam, you’d see a convenient and persistent unsubscribe button at the top of the message. Tapping that link would explain a few more details, send a “STOP” message to the sender, and then delete the message.
Google Messages unsubscribe feature
We’re unsure what caused the change, but there’s a good chance that businesses weren’t too happy with it. Yesterday, Google confirmed it would be rolling this back and has now removed the unsubscribe button for users in the United States and Spain. If there’s a little bit of a silver lining, you’ll still see it in certain instances, but those will likely be few and far between.
For example, business messages using RCS will no longer have the unsubscribe button stateside. It will also not appear at the bottom of regular SMS messages from any business using a short code. However, it will be present in the main menu. Then, in Spain, the unsubscribe button was turned off both inside chats and the context menu.
According to Google, this move is to improve the UI, and the company said, “As we continue to optimize the user experience, we’ve updated the availability of the Unsubscribe feature.”
These changes aside, Google Messages is still a great option packed with features. In recent months, Google has added an updated media sharing interface, integrated a snooze feature for notifications, and added a few customization controls for RCS group chats. We’re also hearing real-time location sharing is coming in a future update. As a reminder, you can try features early by enrolling in the Google Messages beta on the Play Store.
Source: Android Authority