Google Messages Redesign: Pinned Chats Go iMessage-Style, Search Drops to the Bottom

Google Messages is about to look a lot more like iMessage, at least at the top of the screen. A homepage redesign now showing up for a growing slice of beta testers turns pinned conversations into a row of big contact photos, drops the search bar to the bottom of the screen and tucks the Gemini button into the top-right corner. Nothing here has hit the stable app yet, but the changes are live enough on real phones that it’s worth knowing what’s coming, and whether you’ll like it.

My take, up front: two of the three changes are clear wins for one-handed use. The third, the pinned chat row, trades information for looks, and heavy texters are going to notice.

What’s changing in the Google Messages redesign

The update reshapes the app’s home screen, the conversation list you see every time you open Messages. 9to5Google, which has been tracking the test closely, breaks it into three parts.

Pinned chats become big contact photos

Today, pinned conversations sit at the top of your list looking like every other thread, just stuck in place. In the beta, they move into a dedicated area above everything else, shown as large circular contact photos with names underneath. The section takes over the space that currently holds the Messages wordmark, the search field and your account menu.

The catch is what disappears. Like Apple’s version on the iPhone, the new pinned row shows no message preview and no timestamp. You can see that your partner or your group chat is pinned, but not what they last said or when. Android Central also noted that the layout pushes your regular conversations further down the screen, so you scroll more to reach anything you haven’t pinned. Testers with only a couple of pins see an empty placeholder slot, which a Reddit user said goes away once more chats are pinned.

Search moves to the bottom

Search leaves the top of the screen and becomes a floating button next to the “Start chat” button near the bottom. The two trade places in a small animation as you scroll: at rest you get a round magnifying glass beside a “Start chat” pill, and once you start scrolling, “Search” expands into the pill while the other button shrinks. 9to5Google’s Abner Li called the animation lively and said it makes the app easier to use with one hand. I agree. Reaching the top of a 6.7-inch screen to search a thread has always been a stretch.

Gemini gets a corner instead of a bubble

The floating Gemini button that currently hovers over your conversation list is gone. In its place is a smaller Gemini button in the top-right corner, next to your profile picture, matching the layout Google already uses across its Workspace apps. If you never tap Gemini in Messages, this is the change you’ll appreciate most: one less thing covering your chats.

Old layout vs. new layout

That new icon is part of a broader refresh. Google has been testing gradient-style icons for Messages, Phone and Contacts since early November, so the homepage changes and the icon look like pieces of the same push.

Who has it, and when you’ll get it

Right now, only some Google Messages beta testers. Android Central reported that testers are on build 20261030_00_RC00, but having that version doesn’t guarantee anything: some people on the same build still see the old layout. The Reddit user who first posted the change got it on a Pixel 9 Pro without installing any Play Store update, which points to a server-side switch that Google flips account by account.

The rollout is also arriving in pieces. According to 9to5Google, some testers have all three changes, while others have only the pinned chats or only the bottom search button. Android Authority reported on November 3 that the pinned section was reaching more beta users.

Google has not announced a stable release date, and it hasn’t said whether all three changes will ship together. Big Messages redesigns tend to spend weeks or months in beta, so don’t expect this on your phone tomorrow.

One open question: how many chats can you pin?

The stable app lets you pin up to 20 conversations. Code spotted in an earlier beta, reported by Gadget Hacks, showed a “Select chats to pin” picker that capped pins at six and flashed a “Limit reached” warning on the seventh. Nobody has confirmed that the six-chat cap will ship, or what would happen to pins beyond it. If you rely on a long pinned list, there’s no need to unpin anything yet. Just know a lower limit is possible.

Want to try it early?

If you want the best shot at seeing the redesign before everyone else, you can join the Google Messages beta:

1. Open the Google Messages listing in the Play Store on your phone.
2. Scroll down to the “Join the beta” section and tap Join.
3. Wait a few minutes, then update Messages when the beta version appears.

Two caveats. Because Google enables the new layout on its servers, joining the beta doesn’t guarantee you’ll see it. And beta builds can be rough: some testers have reported choppy animations. If Messages is the app you live in for work or family, the stable channel is the safer bet.

The verdict so far

The bottom search button and the corner Gemini shortcut are smart, overdue fixes for phones that keep getting taller. The pinned row is the gamble. It looks clean in screenshots, and Reddit reaction is split between people who like the bigger faces and people who hate losing the preview text. Android Central’s Jay Bonggolto put the case against it well: “A messaging app should be about making conversations easier to reach, not burying them under big shortcuts.”

The best outcome would be a choice between compact and expanded pins. Google has plenty of beta time left to add one, and the feedback from testers so far suggests it should.

Sources: 9to5Google, Android Central, iTech Post, Gadget Hacks. Photo by Jonas Leupe on Unsplash.