You can already schedule messages in Gmail and Telegram (among others), and now Google Messages is joining the club. The functionality showed up for a few people as part of an a/b test back in November 2020, and today, Google has announced that the feature will come to everyone using Messages on Android 7 and higher. The option replaces the long-press shortcut for sending an MMS with a subject.

Since the rollout is just starting, it may still take a bit until you can schedule messages on your phone. You can check if you got in on the feature by tapping and holding the send button in a chat, which should either open the schedule dialog or the old MMS subject interface. In the former case, a new dialog pops up that lets you schedule a message — but note that it will only be sent if your phone is turned on and has a connection at the time. You can either choose from a collection of predefined times and dates or select a specific moment. The scheduled message will appear in your chat as a preview, which you can tap if you want to delete or change the text.

Above: Tap and hold the send button to schedule. Below: Tweak the scheduled messages by tapping it.

If you wonder how to add an MMS subject line with scheduled messages enabled, look for a new Show subject field entry in the three-dot overflow menu in the top right corner of a chat.

You'll still be able to add MMS subjects in the overflow menu.

Ever since Google axed Allo and started focusing on RCS, it's been putting in a lot of effort into making Messages a viable alternative to Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and Co. On top of features like categories and intelligent attachment suggestions, it's even gained some SMS-specific tricks like an option to automatically delete one-time passwords after 24 hours. You can download the latest release on the Play Store or over at APK Mirror, but note that schedule send is rolling out as a server-side switch, so using the latest app version won't necessarily make the feature appear for you.

UPDATE: 2021/02/23 9:01am PST BY MANUEL VONAU

Now official

The article has been updated to reflect that schedule send is now official.

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Thanks: Nick & @besaireddy