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Apple confirmed in a footnote to its iPhone 18 Pro press release that it is once again extending free access to its satellite features, this time covering iPhone 14, 15, and 16 users for an additional year. The offer applies to devices activated in supported countries before midnight PT on September 9, and includes Emergency SOS, Find My, Roadside Assistance, and Messages via satellite.
Android Authority polled over 2,500 readers on Google Messages' new chat theme feature, which lets users customize individual RCS conversations with colors, preset wallpapers, or personal images visible only on their own device. The results split nearly evenly: 36% said they'd long wanted the feature, 33% were undecided but willing to try it, and just over 31% said they'd never use it.
GrapheneOS announced it is issuing a new OS build to fix a volume bar UI bug introduced by an upstream Android security patch, along with a Private Space interface issue. As a result, the long-in-development overhaul of its Messaging app, which the team has worked on for months, will now arrive after this maintenance release rather than alongside it.
GrapheneOS is rebuilding its Messaging app with a new Android Compose interface, along with numerous fixes and improvements. The project also confirmed plans to implement RCS messaging natively, eventually letting users message over RCS without depending on Google Messages, and it's developing a secure paste feature to stop apps from reading clipboard data left by other apps.
Google is extending its Sensitive Content Warning system, currently used in Google Messages, into the native Android Photo Picker. The feature relies on Android System SafetyCore, which analyzes images and videos on-device to flag likely nudity before a user shares them through any app that adopts the Photo Picker.
Google's newly launched chat theme feature in Messages, which lets users set custom backgrounds for individual conversations, is causing problems for some users just weeks after its August rollout. Reports include the feature randomly disappearing and reappearing, wallpapers taking one to two seconds to load, and occasional freezing when selecting themes. Google has acknowledged the issue on Reddit and pointed users toward a possible Play Store update fix.
Google Messages now supports Content Credentials, a feature based on the C2PA standard that shows compatible photos, videos, and audio's origin and editing history, including whether AI tools were used. Users can press and hold supported media, tap Info, then select 'How this was made' to view this data. The feature is currently limited to Android devices.
Google has acknowledged a Messages bug triggered during data transfers to new phones, where old texts from unrelated conversations resurfaced and were sometimes sent to the wrong recipients. The company said a fix is already rolling out and should reach all affected users within a few weeks, though it hasn't detailed the exact cause or which app versions were impacted.
Apple has added a feature to the Messages app that lets users personalize the background of individual conversations. Users can choose from built-in animated wallpapers like Color, Sky, Water, and Aurora, or upload their own photos, with the app also suggesting images from their library. An AI-powered Playground option can generate backgrounds too, though that requires an iPhone 15 Pro or newer.
Google unveiled five new Android updates in a Tuesday blog post, including 'Motion Assist,' which displays a moving screen bubble to ease motion sickness in vehicles, and 'Guided Vision,' which uses the camera and Gemini AI to help blind and low-vision users read labels, menus, or identify objects. Additional updates let Gemini help users track misplaced items and add new personalization options to Google Messages.
Google is rolling out a refreshed Timers tab in its Clock app as part of the September Android Drop. The update flattens the digit style, removes circular backgrounds from the keypad, adds quick presets for 1, 5, 10, and 15 minutes, and moves the start button above the number pad. Multiple active timers now display in a grid instead of a scrollable vertical list.
Google released its monthly Android feature drop this week, adding tools like a motion sickness reducer for screen use in moving vehicles, shared notes within chat threads, camera-based object identification, and customizable Google Messages chat themes. The update also lets users ask Gemini to remember where they placed everyday items, such as passports or keys, storing that information in Google's Find Hub tracking app.