From CNNET: The blue and green bubble texting divide isn't going away anytime soon, but Google is trying to make texting between iPhone and Android phones a little easier. Google's Messages app will soon support iPhone message reactions in text threads, the company said Thursday.
It's one of several new features Google is rolling out to its Messages app in the coming weeks as it seeks to make texting a more universal experience, no matter what phone you use.
The improved support for reactions, which Apple calls Tapback, will likely be a big deal for Android owners with friends who use iPhones. iPhone users can press and hold on a block of text to react to a text message with an emoji. But if you're on an Android phone, you currently see a message describing the reaction ("liked," "loved" and so on) instead of the emoji itself. This update will change that, so you'll soon see the emoji reaction on the corresponding message. The feature is currently in beta but it will roll out more broadly as part of Google's Messages update.
"When people with Android phones and iPhones message each other, not everything works the way it should," Google's Jan Jedrzejowicz, a group product manager for Google's Messages and Phone app, said Thursday in Google's blog post announcing the features.
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