Google Messages tests a new home screen with big pinned avatars and a Gemini button

What Google is testing

Google Messages, the default texting app on many Android phones, is trying out a major rework of its home screen. As 9to5Google reported, the test has three core pieces: a new look for pinned chats, a relocated search button, and a relocated Gemini button. Gemini is Google's AI assistant.

The redesign arrives alongside a new app icon. It is currently in the beta channel, which is an early-access version of the app for volunteers. It has not yet reached all of those testers.

The pieces are not arriving together. Some testers have all three changes, while others see only some. That suggests Google is switching the parts on gradually rather than flipping one big switch.

Pinned chats get much bigger

Pinning a chat means fixing a conversation to the top so your favorite people are easy to find. Until now, pinned chats simply appeared first in the list. In the new design, they get far more prominence than every other conversation.

Large contact photos now sit above the full list of chats. They use the background area that currently holds only the logo, the search bar and the account menu. The rest of your conversations get pushed further down the page.

There is a tradeoff. The source says this layout resembles iMessage on iOS, and it shares one downside: the big avatars do not show any message history or information about what was last sent. You tap a face, but you do not get a preview. Another outlet, Shattered.io, described pinned chats as something like speed-dial buttons for your favorite people, which fits the idea well.

Search moves down to your thumb

The second change moves search to the bottom of the screen. It becomes a centered floating action button, or FAB, which is a button that hovers above the content instead of sitting in a fixed toolbar. It appears next to the button for starting a new chat.

The two buttons change as you move through the app. While you scroll down the page, the pill-shaped button reads "Search" and the other button shrinks out of the way. When you are not scrolling, you see a round magnifying-glass icon plus a pill labeled "Start chat."

9to5Google says the animation that goes with the change looks nice and feels alive. It also says the placement improves one-handed use. On a large phone, the top of the screen is the hardest spot to reach with one thumb, so moving a common action to the bottom is a practical gain.

Gemini moves to the corner

The third piece is the one most relevant to AI. Google has replaced the existing Gemini floating button with a Gemini shortcut in the top-right corner, next to your profile picture. The source notes this matches the design used in Google's Workspace apps on desktop and mobile.

The change is small on the screen, but it shifts how the assistant is presented. A floating button competes with your chats for attention. A corner icon near your profile picture is more like a standard menu item: always there, less in the way.

For people who rarely use AI tools, this is a quiet way for Gemini to become a familiar part of an app they already use. The source does not say what Gemini can do inside Messages, so nothing should be assumed beyond the button itself.

What to expect next

This is still a test, and tests can change or be dropped. The source gives no release date and no word on when everyone will see these changes. Because the parts are appearing separately, your phone could show the new Gemini button before it shows the new pinned chats.

If you do not use the beta channel, you probably will not see anything yet. Even then, the direction is clear: Google is making the app's most common actions, such as finding a person, searching and starting a chat, easier to reach, and giving its AI assistant a steady spot on the screen.