Google says that the rollout of its recently announced Messages for web feature is now complete. Same as WhatsApp for Web, one can make use of Android Messages for Web by navigating to messages.android.com on their desktop browser. Then scan a QR code that is displayed on the website from the Android mobile device by tapping on the three-dot menu on the upper-right corner of the Messages app. They can then continue texting from their browser.
When this new feature was announced on July 19, Google promised that Messages for Web will be available for everyone globally by the end of this week and it seems like it has delivered on it.
We had the Messages app installed on three of our smartphones, out of which two had an older version. There was no Messages for Web option in the settings menu for the older versions but after updating the apps, one of them had the feature enabled and the other one took a few seconds to display it. It seems that even though one needs to update the app for getting the feature, it is enabled from server side and can take a few seconds before showing up.
Google's Allo messenger didn’t do too well, while other online messaging apps like WhatsApp and even iMessages have a rather large user base. Addition of the new features will surely entice users to try Google’s app but with end-to-end encryption missing for Rich Communication Services (RCS), anyone would think twice before sending any sensitive information over the app.