The popular texting app Google Messages might soon get a major upgrade that lets you start video chats directly from your text threads. New evidence found inside the application’s underlying code suggests developers are building in support for native video calling over the RCS protocol. While the feature is not active yet, these behind-the-scenes changes show that the company is taking serious steps toward releasing it.
New internal code reveals the upcoming video chat options
Recent digging into the newest beta version of the messaging app uncovered fresh text strings related to video calls. Programmers use these small lines of text to build user interfaces and error messages. Some of the discovered strings include warnings that tell the app to ignore a call request if the person on the other end cannot receive video through the chat system.
Other pieces of code point to buttons and internal checks that the app needs to process these connections. None of this is visible to regular users right now. However, adding these specific files and function names usually means a feature is moving out of the early testing phase and getting closer to a public launch.
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The standard now allows video connections across different networks
The foundation for this update comes from the recent release of Universal Profile 4.0 for the messaging standard. This new framework officially supports video calling across various devices and networks. Because the texting standard is meant to replace older SMS technology, baking video directly into the protocol makes a lot of sense.
It remains unclear if this tool will work between different phone platforms. People are curious if an Android user will eventually be able to start a video chat with someone on an iPhone using just the default text app. The developers still have work to do before rolling this out to everyone, but the basic pieces are finally coming together.
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