Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Google introduced the Profiles function in Google Messages final 12 months, however it’s nonetheless within the technique of rolling out this profile discovery function to all customers.
- We’ve noticed settings that point out Google is including some privateness choices for this profile discovery function.
- This could give customers management over who can see their profile identify and movie.
Google Messages is again within the limelight nowadays as the first medium for RCS messaging on the Android platform. Increasingly firms are ditching their messaging apps in favor of Google Messages, so it’s important for Messages to evolve right into a service that fulfills the wants and expectations of a wider person base. Google formally introduced Profiles again in November 2023 as a manner for profile discovery. Whereas the function remains to be seeing a spotty rollout, we’ve noticed clues that point out Google is engaged on fixing privateness issues round profile discovery.
An APK teardown helps predict options which will arrive on a service sooner or later based mostly on work-in-progress code. Nonetheless, it’s attainable that such predicted options might not make it to a public launch.
As a part of the Profiles, aka the Profile Discovery function, customers can select to:
- Use both the identify out of your profile or a brief identify.
- Present or cover your profile image.
Google Messages v20241010 beta contains adjustments that give customers extra granular controls over who can see their identify and profile image. We managed to activate the choices for this upcoming function:
With the brand new choices inside Google Messages, you’ve gotten three decisions for profile privateness and visibility:
- Individuals you message: This selection will seemingly present everybody you message your identify and profile photograph first. It may also be interpreted as much like setting your profile to “Public” on a social media web site, letting everybody discover you after they search for your quantity via the Profile Discovery function.
- Solely your contacts: This selection will seemingly prohibit your identify and profile image and make it seen to solely folks in your cellphone’s contact e book.
- Nobody: This selection will seemingly cover your identify and profile image from everybody.
These new choices will seemingly be introduced to customers after they log into Google Messages for the primary time (as soon as this modification rolls out), as you’ll be able to see within the first screenshot. Put up initialization, it is possible for you to to entry this setting via the “Your profile” possibility within the account switcher, as you’ll be able to see within the second screenshot.
It’s unclear if selecting the “Nobody” possibility will flip off profile discovery options. Nonetheless, the flexibleness of those choices will treatment chunk of professional privateness issues that folks had about their identify and profile image being seen to anybody with their quantity and even to individuals who randomly looked for numbers.
It’s essential to notice that you just nonetheless can’t set a special profile image or identify for Google Messages. Your profile on Google Messages takes the identify and movie of your Google account, i.e., your Gmail profile image.
Profiles haven’t been extensively rolled out to all Google Messages customers but, even a 12 months after their announcement. Nevertheless it’s good to see Google make progress on fixing privateness issues earlier than a wider rollout. We don’t know when this function will probably be accessible to all customers, however we’ll hold you up to date.
