Google is rolling out two features for its Message app on Android, with an intent to weed out the spiteful SMS and help users to stay safe online.
Spam Detection
The spam detection feature helps to determine if the received message is a spam message, or if it can lead you to websites that are not safe to use. With spam detection turned on, Google will temporarily store the phone numbers for the message you receive from people who aren’t in your contacts.
If the Messages app suspects a text to be a spam message, it will display an exclamation mark or a red background. It will show you a warning, where you can confirm if that message is spam or not.
And, this would help Google to fine-tune its algorithm to detect the spam messages more efficiently. The feature will turn on automatically, but you’ll get a notification once it rolls out to you. If the spam messages don’t stop coming, you can report it and block the conversation at any time.
This feature is rolling out broadly to users in the US.
Verified SMS
Businesses share useful information like one-time passwords and account alerts with customers via SMS. But sometimes, messages can even come from troublemakers, pretending to be from your trustworthy businesses. They can ask you for private information or link to dangerous websites.
The Verified SMS feature will confirm the authenticity of the business that’s messaging you. Google will verify every message that a business sends to a user, is sent by a specific business. This verification will be done on a per-message basis. When verified, you’ll see a verification badge, along with the business name and its logo in your message thread.
Banco, Bradesco, Kayak, Payback, 1-800-Flowers, and SoFi are among the first brands that will send messages with Verified SMS. Google Pay India and verification codes from Google will also get enrolled in this program very soon.
This feature is rolling out in nine countries, starting in the US, India, Brazil, Mexico, Spain, Canada, Philippines, the UK, and France. The tech giant will soon roll out this feature in other countries too.
