Google Messages is trying to banish spammy job-seeking and package-delivery texts from your inbox, and it’s also adding a content warning to blur images that might contain nudity.
The Sensitive Content Warning feature is optional, and if enabled, it will show users a “speed bump” with “help-finding resources and options” before they can view an image with nudity detected via on-device scanning. If users try to share an image with nudity, the app will warn them about the risks.
With all of the scanning done on-device, Google says it doesn’t see the contents of your images or send them anywhere, and it doesn’t break the end-to-end encryption available with RCS. Apple’s Messages app added similar protection with Communication Safety starting in iOS 17 after tabling more controversial plans for expanded scanning and alerts. The sensitive content warnings will be enabled by default for users under 18. It will roll out in the “coming months” to Android 9 and higher devices with more than 2GB of RAM.
An update headed out to users of the beta version will have an upgraded scam detection system that’s supposed to be better at recognizing and sorting out the kinds of fraudulent messages that often offer fake job opportunities or claim a delivery is on hold in an attempt to get your personal information.
Google Messages already moves suspected spam messages to the spam folder or shows you a warning, and says it’s using “on-device machine learning models” to evaluate the message, meaning Google can’t see your conversations unless you report something.
To me, Google Messages already does an okay job of filtering out spam, but I’ve found that suspicious texts can sometimes fall through the cracks. Enhanced protection against job-seeking and package-delivery scams is rolling out now to Google Messages beta users with spam protection enabled — and I might just have to enroll in the beta to try it.
Additionally, Google Messages is working on the ability to automatically hide messages from unknown international numbers, along with warnings that appear when users receive a message with a potentially dangerous link.
Next year, Google is also planning to add a “contact verifying” feature for Android, which will allow you to verify your contact’s identity using a public key, which should be similar to the verification system Apple announced for iMessage a few years ago.