Google has detailed a series of new security features coming to its Google Messages app for Android designed to better protect users from suspicious messages. The first one is enhanced scam detection, which is now rolling out now to Google Messages beta users who have spam protection enabled.
"When Google Messages suspects a potential scam text, it will automatically move the message into your spam folder or warn you. Google Messages uses on-device machine learning models to classify these scams, so your conversations stay private and the content is never sent to Google unless you report spam," the company explained on its Security blog.
Google has also started testing alerts about potentially dangerous links in Google Messages with users in India, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. This feature can automatically block messages with suspicious links, and it will be made available for all users across the world later this year.
In the coming months, Google Messages will also add an optional Sensitive Content Warnings option that will automatically blur images that may contain nudity. This feature will be opt-in for adults and opt-out for users under 18 years of age, and it will also display warnings when an image that may contain nudity is about to be sent or forwarded.
Lastly, the messaging app is getting an option to block messages from unknown international numbers, with an initial rollout in Singapore later this year. Google is also working on a system-level contact verifying feature that will help users make sure that they're in contact with the right person. "We're creating a unified system for public key verification across different apps, which you can verify through QR code scanning or number comparison. This feature will be launching next year for Android 9+ devices, with support for messaging apps including Google Messages," the company explained.