Google Messages brings back its fun Screen Effects feature

Google previewed the Screen Effects feature last year, and it finally made its way to the Google Messages app around Valentine’s Day. The feature received mixed reactions, with some users liking the effects and others finding them annoying or unnecessary. Whether due to technical issues or mixed user feedback, the Mountain View tech giant pulled the feature shortly after its launch.

However, it seems that screen effects are now back and support more triggers (via 9to5Google). The effects occur on the Google Messages app for SMS and RCS conversations when you receive or send messages containing the trigger words or phrases. It is available on the stable channel (build 20240621_00_RC00) as well as the beta channels. However, unlike the last time it was rolled out, users now have the option to turn off the screen effects.

When Screen Effects launched earlier this year, phrases like “I love you” or “I love you” would trigger heart animations. Surprisingly, that’s no longer the case, and neither does the phrase “That sounds good.” But other words and phrases now trigger effects in the chat window, like “Boo,” “Congratulations,” “I’m going to the beach,” “Hahahaha,” and “Rise and shine.”

Each of these words or phrases triggers a different animation. For example, if you text “I’m going to the beach,” you’ll see waves and other objects like buckets appear on the screen. Similarly, the word “Boo” triggers tomatoes to be thrown, and so on.

Let us know how many screen effects you were able to trigger below!