Skip to main content

Google Messages starts testing @mentions in RCS group chats

After work got underway earlier this year, Google Messages is beginning to roll out @mentions in group chats.

In group chats, Google Messages will let you @mention someone to “get their attention.” The intended person will “see @mentions even if their notifications are muted.” 

So far, there are a pair of reports on Reddit about this going live. You can @ in a group chat to see if a menu of contacts appears. If so, there will be a small “Try @ to get their attention” prompt. 

According to people who have it, what appears after the @ symbol is the contact name as stored on your device (the Google Contacts app). You can “edit how others see this name by deleting words,” so a person’s last name can be removed from the message that everyone sees.

Advertisement - scroll for more content

This is starting to appear in the Google Messages beta (version 20251103_00_RC00), but @mentions are not seeing wide availability yet.

Google in June introduced the ability to set a custom icon for group chats. In April, we also spotted work on letting people join group chats via invite links and QR codes.

More on Google Messages:

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

You’re reading NewGeekGuide — experts who break news about Google and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow NewGeekGuide on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Don’t know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

Comments

Author

Avatar for Abner Li Abner Li

Editor-in-chief. Interested in the minutiae of Google and Alphabet. Tips/talk: abner@9to5g.com