Full-screen message effects are among the most fun-to-use features in iMessage, and now they're becoming a lot easier to use in Google Messages for Android, too. In the latest Google Messages beta, these full-screen effects will now automatically play for you (and your texting partner, if they're also on the beta) when you send them certain emoji in Google Messages for Android. That makes them a bit easier to use than Apple's version of this feature, which can only be triggered by certain phrases (eg: "Happy New Year"), or by long-pressing the send button and selecting the effect manually. Google had previously rolled out full-screen effects for certain phrases, but this time around, all you need to do is send one emoji to trigger them.
How to use Android's full-screen message effects
At the moment, Google is still testing this new way to send full-screen message effects, which means you'll have to become a beta tester for Google Messages in order to try them out. To do that, either follow this link or go to the Play Store page for Google Messages, tap Become a tester, and follow the on-screen instructions. Once you have the beta up and running, just send an applicable emoji to any of your contacts to trigger its corresponding full-screen effect. Message effects aren't enabled for every single emoji, but they do work with quite a few commonly used ones, such as clap, sleep, party, etc.
Note that you'll need to limit your text to just one emoji to see the effect. If you send an emoji along with some text, or more than one emoji, it won't work (prior versions of the feature required you to send two of the same emoji to trigger an effect, although I couldn't make that work on the new beta). Personally, I quite like how these effects look. It's like watching a short, animated video the moment you send an emoji, which makes for some really pleasing feedback.
How to turn off full-screen effects in Google Messages
Unless you find yourself frequently sending or receiving texts that only have a single emoji in them, these effects probably won't pop up so frequently that you'll need to turn them off. However, if they do start to annoy you, you can easily disable them. In Google Messages, tap the profile icon and select Settings. Disable Show expressive animations to stop seeing full-screen effects.
