- A bug in the latest Google Messages beta automatically prompts emoji reactions in chats where the last received message is an image.
- The issue apparently appears only in the recent v20250406 beta version and not in older stable releases.
- You can avoid the problem by downgrading to a stable build or by sending or receiving a text message right after receiving an image.
Google Messages is the primary vehicle for RCS messages on Android flagships, and millions of users rely on it. However, the app occasionally encounters bugs that break the messaging experience, sometimes in funny ways. The latest bug spotted in Google Messages keeps prompting users to emoji react to an image, and it’s funnily annoying.
Several users on Reddit (like 1, 2, 3) have been complaining of emoji reactions popping up automatically on image messages, making it very easy to accidentally react to something even if you don’t mean to. This notably happens when the image is the last incoming message, which gets very annoying very quickly if you exit and re-enter such chats. The popup doesn’t break Google Messages completely, but it does add an extra step to texting as you have to defocus out of the emoji panel to send another text.