Google Messages on Wear OS could soon add two features you've been waiting for

Google Messages is the primary texting app on Android, and Google keeps working to improve the core experience. This extends to both the experience on Android phones and the secondary experience on connected devices like Wear OS smartwatches. We’ve now spotted Google working on bringing the ability to react with emojis and mark messages as read from the notification, straight from your Wear OS smartwatch.

The Google Messages app on Android phones allows users to react with Emojis and Photomojis, but the functionality doesn’t extend to the Wear OS app. On Wear OS smartwatches, users can see all emoji reactions in messages, but they cannot react to messages themselves. This could soon change, as we’ve spotted a new MessageReactionsActivity on the Wear OS version of Google Messages:

There are also new strings related to message reactions:

So far, the clues don’t suggest that users will be able to react with Photomojis on their Wear OS smartwatch, but they should still be able to see them on their watch when someone reacts with Photomojis.

Similarly, Google Messages on Android allows users to mark messages as read from their phone’s notification panel, through the “Mark as read” button shown below:

However, Google Messages on Wear OS does not come with a similar “Mark as read” button, even though other Google apps like Gmail do come with it on Wear OS, as seen in the screenshot below:

We’ve now spotted strings that suggest that Google Messages on Wear OS will soon get a “Mark as read” button:

When the button rolls out, it will help keep your unread counter under control, letting you mark unimportant messages as read directly from the notification on your Wear OS smartwatch, so you don’t unnecessarily see them again on your phone.