Google may soon allow Android users to send and receive SMS messages through a web interface, continuing their conversations from their android smartphones on a web browser of their choice. The function is similar to Google Allo for web or WhatsApp Web.
First spotted by Android Police (AP) in a teardown of Android Messages V2.9, the function would allow Android users to pair their smartphones with a computer and continues texting through a web browser of their choice. The same pairing procedure was earlier adopted for Allo for web.
“Internally, the codename for this feature is "Ditto," but it looks like it will be labeled "Messages for web" when it launches,” the publication writes. Users will be redirected to visit a web on a computer or a laptop. A QR code will then be generated, scanning which using the Android smartphone will complete the linking process. Once linked, users will be able to send and receive text messages through the web portal using their carriers.
Android Messages for web can be expected to launch with Google Chrome first, before it becomes compatible with other browsers.
Further, the teardown also revealed that users will see a “Connected to desktop” notification on their Android phone when it’s connected to a PC for sending messages through the web.
Android Messages could also be used to make payments in the future as indicated by some text appearing in the teardown of the app. Terms like ‘checkout’ and ‘order summary’ are displayed in the text. “Another key clue is the activity where these are displayed, which is named messaging.ui.businesspayments.PaymentsSummaryActivity,” notes AP.