Google Messages for Android is now displaying a contact’s profile photo at the top of conversations, following more substantial modifications to the “RCS” branding and read receipt icons in recent weeks.
To access Google Contacts, you have always been able to tap a person’s name in the app bar in Messages. By displaying their profile pictures, Google is also emphasizing that shortcut. The same image can be found in the main conversation list, and tapping the space in group conversations opens that details page.
This look matches other applications, with Facebook Courier and Wire showing symbols in a similar left position, while iMessage focuses on it. It’s an easy change that could prevent you from returning to the main conversation list.
The magnifying glass icon has been removed as part of this change, and the overflow menu, which is getting a little long, now has the word “Search.”
Google Messages version 20230313_01_RC00.phone.openbeta_dynamic is responsible for the display of these contact photos.