Google Messages is better than ever, but it still leaves me frustrated

Google Messages is preinstalled on most Android phones, though this isn't the only reason behind its success.

The company's Messages app is the best way to text on Android because the app does a lot of things right.

I learned about its strengths after using it casually while SMS Organizer was my main text messaging app. I have never looked back since then.

Google Messages has replaced the SMS Organizer app on both my Samsung Galaxy S21 and Motorola Edge 50 Neo, and I use it daily. I've been using it for a few years, and it's only become better since I switched.

However, even the sun has spots, and so does Google Messages. It's only recently that I realized the app can do so much more to bring more users to its fold.

As an ardent supporter of the app, it's frustrating to see that Google Messages can't do many of the things I recently felt I needed.

Here is everything I miss in Google Messages that frustrates me.

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Posts 11
By  Rahul Naskar

Deleting messages that are older than a certain age

I love how my Android phone detects apps that I haven't used in a long time and puts them to deep sleep. It also notifies me after putting them into a deep sleep.

That's intelligent, and I want Google Messages to learn from it.

I have been using Google Messages for years, so threads that are no longer relevant have piled up. It'll continue to get worse unless I spot and delete them from my inbox.

While cleaning up my inbox several days ago, I was wondering if Google Messages could auto-delete messages older than a specific age.

If completely removing them from the phone seems too drastic, it would at least move them to the trash. It isn't that big of an ask, given that Google Messages now features a Trash folder.

I would love to have this as an optional feature in the Google Messages app, with the ability to set an age threshold.

A 'select all' button

Google Messages allows you to take certain actions, such as pinning, archiving, and deleting quickly. All you do is long-press the message and select the right option from the top.

You can also quickly bulk select individual messages with a single tap after selecting the first message using the long-press gesture. However, you can't select all messages with a single tap.

I don't miss this on the Google Messages' inbox page because I never needed to apply any actions to all my messages. But I feel its absence every time I clear the spam messages.

In the Spam and blocked page in Google Messages, I must select each message and then tap Delete to get rid of them. If you have plenty of spam messages, deleting them will take more time than it should.

Google Messages doesn't offer the option to select all messages anywhere in the app, not even on the Archived page. If not everywhere in the app, at least introduce the option to the Spam and blocked page.

Two buttons to start a chat

The Google Messages inbox page shows all your threads in a single place, with a button to start a chat at the bottom. I love the Start chat button for how quickly it allows me to start a conversation with someone.

However, this doesn't work if you want to quickly drop a message to one of the groups you created. Tapping the Start chat button will show you the option to create a group, but it won't let you select your existing groups and message all participants.

This is where the two "Start chat" buttons come in handy. One would start a conversation with an individual, and the other one would show a list of groups I created to let me send a message to all members.

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I lament that we don't have this feature in the Google Messages app.

Copy a specific part of a message

When I first switched to the Google Messages app, I was surprised that it lacked something as simple as copying a specific part of a message. We're approaching the middle of 2026, and we still don't have it.

I'm more hopeful about the arrival of this feature in Google Messages because evidence suggests Google has already started working on the feature.

However, it's still annoying to see that Google has taken this long to start working on this feature. If it gets scrapped down the line or delayed a year or more, it'll be even more frustrating.

I like Google Messages more than ever, but the frustration remains

Many of my colleagues at Android Police ditched Google Messages and switched to another app. Some of them still aren't ready to switch to Google Messages for all its shortcomings.

I also have some complaints, some of which I listed above. However, none of the issues are too big to make me a convert. The app has also gained some handy new features over the years, which have kept me from leaving.

I love Google Messages more than ever because of all those useful features that Google introduced in the recent past. That's the reason for my frustration — I can't quit despite the flaws.