For years, Android users have watched iOS tweak its iMessage aesthetics with a mix of envy and indifference. One specific feature—the background blur when selecting a message—was a staple of iOS 18 before Apple revamped it in the controversial iOS 26 update. Now, it appears Google is testing a return to that classic look, but currently, it seems exclusive to a specific subset of Android users.
According to a discovery by Techish Kenya’s Alfred Kamicha, the latest Google Messages beta has introduced a background blur effect when a user long-presses to select a message. This visual change dims and blurs the surrounding chat thread, focusing attention entirely on the selected text bubble.
The behavior mimics the “classic” implementation found in older iOS versions rather than the newer swipe-to-reply mechanics seen in iOS 26.
While this visual polish is a welcome addition, it doesn’t appear to be rolling out to everyone just yet. Testing the feature on a Redmi Note 14 running Android 15 and a TECNO Camon 16 S running Android 10 yielded no results despite having the same Google Messages beta version installed on both devices—the background remained static.
The discrepancy likely lies in the specific build of the app. Android’s open nature often means different OEMs get slightly different flavors of Google apps. A closer look at the version numbers reveals the key difference:
- Xiaomi (Redmi):
messages.android_20251212_00_RC01.phone.openbeta_dynamic - Samsung (One UI 8):
messages.android_20251212_00_RC01.phone_samsung_openbeta_dynamic
The _samsung_ tag in the package name confirms that Samsung devices are pulling a specialized build of Google Messages. This isn’t the first time Samsung users have received features early or exclusively; the company’s close partnership with Google often results in One UI-specific optimizations that later trickle down to the wider Android ecosystem.
For now, if you are running the latest One UI 8 stable update, you might already have this feature. For the rest of the Android world, it’s a waiting game to see if Google merges this visual tweak into the main branch or keeps it as a perk for its biggest hardware partner.
Check out the screenshot below showing the feature in action on a Samsung Galaxy device:
