Google Messages to Supercharge Photo Quality: Up to 8K Resolution

Android users can look forward to a delightful surprise: Google is preparing a major update to its messaging application, Messages. The key innovation pertains to photo quality.

Currently, the messenger limits the height of sent photos to 2048 pixels. When using the “Quick Send” feature, this is reduced to 1600 pixels, and the image is further compressed.

However, lines of code found in the APK suggest that Google plans to significantly enhance the app’s capabilities. The maximum image size will increase to 8192 x 8192 pixels, and JPEG quality will be set at 100%. This quadruples the current limitations.

Changes will also affect “Quick Send.” Researchers believe that the maximum size for these images will increase to 2048 pixels, with JPEG quality set at 90%.

Interestingly, the image size limitations are specific to Google Messages, not the RCS (Rich Communication Services) protocol. For example, Samsung Messages already allows photos to be sent without altering their original size.

These updates are particularly timely given Apple’s recent announcement of RCS support in iOS 18. This will enable iPhone users to exchange high-quality images with Android users without any loss. Considering that Google has long urged Apple to adopt RCS, many are surprised that Google has continued to compress photos in Messages for so long.

Google has indeed had ample time to prepare for Apple’s transition to RCS. Nevertheless, it appears that the corporation is only now seriously addressing this issue.

The exact release date for the update is currently unknown.