- Google Messages now lets you send yourself RCS messages
- This allows for longer notes-to-self and high-quality photo and video uploads
- RCS messages sent to your own phone number are not encrypted
The Google Messages app found pre-loaded on all the best Android phones has received an update that allows you to more easily use it as a place for notes, reminders, and file transfers.
Specifically, Google has added a new feature to Google Messages which finally lets users send RCS messages to themselves – notes-to-self were previously restricted to SMS.
Sending messages via RCS enables users to send longer messages to their own phone number, as well as high-quality photos and videos. This adds utility to Google Messages as a quick way to send reminders and media across devices, as a single account can be logged into multiple phones at the same time.
Google Messages is one of the world’s most widely used messaging services, and is increasingly the default messaging app for various Android-focused brands: as we recently reported, Samsung picked Google Messages to replace Samsung Messages as the default messaging app for the flagship Galaxy S25 series.
When it comes to messaging yourself, though, Google Messages is best used for quick transfers and notes – there’s no real file management to speak of, and messages are, of course, stored chronologically.
The upside to using Google Messages for this is that messages and attachments are stored locally on each device once received, and so don’t count against your Google account’s storage allowance in the same way a Google Drive upload would.
Personally, I find myself sending the occasional note-to-self when time is of the essence – it can be quicker to just press send on something than deal with finding it on Google Drive or another cloud storage app.
As Android Authority notes, however, messages sent to your own phone number are unencrypted, even if they’re RCS messages. It’s not clear why this is the case, as RCS messages between two different phone numbers tend to be encrypted by default.
Sending a message to one’s own phone number via Google Messages was previously restricted to SMS, which is both unencrypted and unable to support the sending of large files like high-quality photos and videos.
Do you use messaging services to send yourself notes, photos, and videos? Does Google Messages adding RCS for self-sent messages seem like a useful upgrade? Let us know in the comments below.
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jamie.richards@futurenet.com (Jamie Richards)
