Published Apr 26, 2026, 8:30 AM EDT

Hamlin has been in the tech field for over seven years. Since 2017, his work has appeared on MakeUseOf , OSXDaily, Beebom, MashTips, and more. He served as the Senior Editor for MUO for two years before joining XDA. He uses a Windows PC for desktop use and a MacBook for traveling, but dislikes some of the quirks of macOS. You're more likely to catch him at the gym or on a flight than anywhere else.

Ever since I bought the Galaxy Z Flip 5 as my secondary phone in 2023, I've been using Google Messages almost regularly. But in the first two years, I treated it as nothing more than a simple SMS app where I'd get OTPs, bank transactions, delivery updates, and the occasional text that didn't belong on WhatsApp.

It wasn't until recently that I fiddled with its settings and features beyond the basics and realized how much I'd been overlooking, mainly because I default to iMessage on my iPhone for conversations.…