Google Chat Question

[rob464890]

Hello,

I recently switched from iPhone to Android with a Samsung S22 Ultra. I am trying to untangle myself from the Apple ecosystem and am looking for a chat alternative to iMessage. I found Google Chat which seems to allow up to 200 MB image size attachments (per google's website). However, I have noticed some very strange behavior:

1) Sending messages from the Chat extension in Chrome to an iPhone or Android device seems to work fine and the images are not compressed.

2) Sending images from an iPhone to Android works as well and the images are not compressed, although it does not pass along the metadata which is annoying.

3) When sending images from Android to either a computer or an iPhone, the images ARE compressed. This is the problem I am facing. I cannot send uncompressed (up to 200 MB) to an iPhone using Google Chat or a computer (using the Chrome extension). It just reduces the file size even though the original is no where near the 200 MB limit.

What am I missing and or what am I doing wrong? It was my understanding that Google Chat allows for sending images up to 200 MB. If that's the case, why am I unable to send full quality images from my S22 to other devices using Google Chat? I have not tested Android to Android because I only have one Android device.

I realize there's no real good alternative to iMessage, but this is the closest thing I could find. I tried Whatapp, but it compresses the image as well and they are unusable to me.

Any help information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

 

[Mr Bojangles1]

If your intent is just to send images then have you tried Google photos?

 

[rob464890]

No, I just want to know why Google Chat isn't working as advertised. Google photos is irrelevent.

 

[tube517]

Are you using Google Messages or Google chat? Google's Messages is the texting app that uses RCS. This is the one that is trying to be like iMessage.

Google chat is used mainly for teams in work environments.

It's all confusing because Google has done a poor job of developing text/chat apps AND a poor job of explaining what each does.

This may help: https://zapier.com/blog/google-hangouts-meet-guide/

 

[rob464890]

I am using Google Chat because the iPhone does not support RCS and everyone else I know in the known universe uses an iPhone with iMessage. I was hoping this would be a good alternative because it gives typing indicators and delivery receipts. I know it doesn't handle SMS, but that's ok with me. I can't find any settings or options to tweak the attachment settings. If you look on Google's website it clearly states that it supports 200 MB attachments. I just can't figure out why it doesn't work.

 

[tube517]

I am using Google Chat because the iPhone does not support RCS and everyone else I know in the known universe uses an iPhone with iMessage. I was hoping this would be a good alternative because it gives typing indicators and delivery receipts. I know it doesn't handle SMS, but that's ok with me. I can't find any settings or options to tweak the attachment settings. If you look on Google's website it clearly states that it supports 200 MB attachments. I just can't figure out why it doesn't work.

I don't use Google chat because nobody I know uses it. Maybe someone in this forum can chime in. Google chat used to be Hangouts and it was actually pretty good but like everything else Google changes or deletes an app that actually works.

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! That's an interesting question. I use Google Chat all the time to communicate with my family (and Hangouts before that). I can see how attached images get compressed, because when I download them, the resultant image file is only about 300-400 KB instead of around 3 MB.

I can't find any settings for this, nor can I find anything on the web when I search. I'll ask Android guru JR Raphael on a separate forum I'm on and see if he's aware of this limitation.

 

[rob464890]

Thank you - I appreciate it.

 

[mustang7757]

Whatsapp and Facebook messenger are also good alternatives

 

[rob464890]

Thanks for the advice, but for me WhatsApp behaves the same way by compressing the images. I don't use FB Messenger so that's off the table. It's increasingly looking like I won't be able to replicate, or at least come close to the messaging capability of iMessage. It's a shame though, because I really like the S22 Ultra. Most everything in the Google ecosystem behaves similarly to that of Apple. For me, messaging is a big thing. Exchanging pictures and having read receipts is a big part of my communication. Well, we will see if I can get something to work. If not, most likely going back to the iPhone.

 

[mustang7757]

Thanks for the advice, but for me WhatsApp behaves the same way by compressing the images. I don't use FB Messenger so that's off the table. It's increasingly looking like I won't be able to replicate, or at least come close to the messaging capability of iMessage. It's a shame though, because I really like the S22 Ultra. Most everything in the Google ecosystem behaves similarly to that of Apple. For me, messaging is a big thing. Exchanging pictures and having read receipts is a big part of my communication. Well, we will see if I can get something to work. If not, most likely going back to the iPhone.

What about telegram?

 

[B. Diddy]

I posed the question to JR Raphael, and he wasn't aware of a reason for this -- but the issue intrigued him, so he's reaching out to a Google PR rep to see if they have any input on it.

 

[Ben xfg]

Thanks for the advice, but for me WhatsApp behaves the same way by compressing the images. I don't use FB Messenger so that's off the table. It's increasingly looking like I won't be able to replicate, or at least come close to the messaging capability of iMessage. It's a shame though, because I really like the S22 Ultra. Most everything in the Google ecosystem behaves similarly to that of Apple. For me, messaging is a big thing. Exchanging pictures and having read receipts is a big part of my communication. Well, we will see if I can get something to work. If not, most likely going back to the iPhone.

How about Signal, or Telegram as mentioned above?

 

[Thomas_George]

In addition to WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, there are many alternatives such as Telegram, Signal, etc. You can try it out.

 

[rob464890]

Thanks everyone. Unfortunately, as much as I really like this phone, it's become more of a hassle than anything else. Quite frankly, the major problem is the messaging. Everyone I know uses an iPhone and is using iMessage by default. (Although I was hoping to convince at least my wife to use Google Chat). They don't want to use another app to just message me and I can't say that I blame them. It's unfortunate because I was able to make many adjustments to to use this Android phone. I am going to miss the big screen, the fast processor, camera, and fingerprint reader. And of course the SPen. However, the phone (which is also a communication device), doesn't communicate in a pleasing format to my recipients. It was my fault for trying it... We need more cross-platform functionality.

Thanks to everyone for your suggestions! Take care.

 

[mustang7757]

Thanks everyone. Unfortunately, as much as I really like this phone, it's become more of a hassle than anything else. Quite frankly, the major problem is the messaging. Everyone I know uses an iPhone and is using iMessage by default. (Although I was hoping to convince at least my wife to use Google Chat). They don't want to use another app to just message me and I can't say that I blame them. It's unfortunate because I was able to make many adjustments to to use this Android phone. I am going to miss the big screen, the fast processor, camera, and fingerprint reader. And of course the SPen. However, the phone (which is also a communication device), doesn't communicate in a pleasing format to my recipients. It was my fault for trying it... We need more cross-platform functionality.

Thanks to everyone for your suggestions! Take care.

Interesting i use both platforms, i mainly have my Android device with me and I've told family and friends if need me thats where to reach me if i have my iPhone on me good but not going out of my way to use what they want me to.

 

[B. Diddy]

JR Raphael got back to me with a response from a Google rep. They confirmed that images are in fact compressed when sent via Google Chat, and there's no setting to change that. It doesn't make a ton of sense to me, since they do claim they can send up to 200 MB in a file via Chat. The best I can suggest right now is to hit Google with feedback asking them to allow for images to be sent uncompressed, and make the point that it would help them compete with iMessage.