Google Messages finally unlocks a personalization perk iPhone users have been enjoying

Google has started rolling out custom chat wallpapers in Google Messages, finally letting you set a photo or built-in background behind your texts. The catch is it is a tiny beta-only rollout, arriving weeks before Samsung Messages shuts down and pushes Galaxy S26 Ultra owners toward the app that ships on most of the best Android phones, Pixel 10 Pro included.

Custom wallpapers are showing up for a lucky few

Google is swapping the old "Change colors" toggle for a new "Chat theme" screen, and it is showing up on real phones. You keep the per-chat colors, and now you can put a wallpaper behind the conversation too.

Telegram user Pintu Patra spotted it on a Pixel, and Reddit users started reporting the same change on Samsung beta builds. Most of that thread still does not have it, so this reads as a slow server-side push, not a wide release.

We first flagged the feature when it was only buried in the app's code, so seeing it go live, even for a few users, is the next real step.

Samsung Messages is dying, which raises the stakes

If you live in Google Messages, this is the personalization it has lacked for years. You can finally make a thread feel like yours, not a wall of gray bubbles.

The timing is also interesting. Samsung Messages shuts down next month, and millions of Galaxy owners are being moved onto Google Messages whether they want to or not. Wallpapers and per-chat colors are exactly what those users bragged about for years, so it softens the forced move.

If you text from a Galaxy, this is aimed right at you. It still does not bring back everything Samsung Messages did though, since folders and categories are missing, and a wallpaper will not help you find an old text.

What you get, and how to find it

Pintu Patra's screenshot shows the layout: color palettes up top, then a wallpaper grid sorted into categories like Animals, Cityscapes, Landscapes, Macro, Space, Sunsets and Textures. A "Choose a photo" button lets you use your own image, and "Reset to default" undoes it all in one tap.

A line at the top, "Only you will see these changes," means the look is local to you, so your wallpaper will not show on the other person's phone.

Here's how to find Chat theme

1. Open an RCS conversation in Google Messages.
2. Tap the three-dot menu in the top corner.
3. Look for "Chat theme" where "Change colors" used to be.
4. Pick a color, choose a wallpaper or your own photo, then tap Apply.

I'm one of the people stuck waiting

Here is the frustrating part for me. I basically live in Google Messages on my Pixel, but I stay out of the beta on purpose, because being a tester sometimes locks me out of features non-testers already have.

So a beta-only rollout means I am doing what you might be doing right now, squinting at someone else's screenshot. I still think it is a real win, and I am glad the gap is closing. I am just hoping the wide release does not take its sweet time.

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• For more hot takes and behind-the-scenes coverage, follow me @jojothetechie on X and Threads.

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