Google Messages for Android is being tested with a rearranged home screen. Three things move in the test build: your favourite contacts get their own photo strip, search drops to the bottom of the screen, and the Gemini shortcut heads to the top-right corner.
The redesign has not been announced by Google and is not a general rollout. Testers report getting the pieces separately: some see all three changes, others only one or two.
Pinned chats are the biggest visual shift. A Reddit post from a tester shows the pinned contacts as large photos in their own band at the top, pushing the regular conversation list lower. That band takes over the space where the logo, search bar and account menu sit today. As on the iPhone’s Messages app, a pinned chat shows only the face, with no last message or time next to it.
Search becomes a floating button. At rest it is a round magnifying-glass icon beside a “Start chat” pill, and while you scroll the pill switches to “Search” and the chat button shrinks. Having it at the bottom puts it within reach of a thumb on a large phone.
The Gemini button, which used to float over the list, is now a small button at the top right beside the profile picture. That is where Google puts Gemini in its Workspace apps.
The test follows the new gradient icons for Messages, Phone and Contacts that arrived on 2 November. Google has not said when, or whether, the layout will reach everyone.
