Earlier this yearGoogle Messages seems to have settled on a new design for read receipts. The RCS program brought it back, but now follows an element of this major redesign.
An overhaul of basic reading receipts that first appeared August 2024put everything inside a circle in the lower right corner of the message bubble:
| Ellipse | Sending |
| Single check with ring | Sent |
| Double check with the ring | Delivered |
| Double check the solid circle | Read it |
In recent weeks, Google Messages has reverted to a two-circle design that mostly appears below the message bubble:
Google is now testing an option that moves the timestamp and encryption lock icon so that they no longer cover read receipts. Now you view this information by swiping left and direct answers by swiping right. This was originally part of a major redesign and saved you from having to touch every bubble.
It is not clear why the messages go back and forth in the design of the actual read receipts. (If you visit the Conversation Details page, you’ll see that the all-in-one approach is prevalent.) Regardless, Google is distributing the changes.
This particular change isn’t widespread, and we’ve only seen it on one device Google Messages beta. It started appearing last week.
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