Floating Chat Bubbles being tested in Google Messages on Android 10

Google is testing floating conversation bubbles (Facebook Messenger style) in its Messages app on Android 10. While the support for the feature was added in Android 10 beta two for Pixel devices, the feature was pulled on the stable build.

The company is working on the Bubbles API that was introduced earlier. Users on stable Android 10 builds can enable this feature from the Developer Options by heading over to Settings > Developer Options > Bubbles.

After enabling the feature, all messages arrived in a floating chat bubble. It stays at the edge of the screen when idle and opens up to fully display the message in a floating window. Users can view messages and reply directly from the window.

While the feature isn’t rolled out by all manufacturers, Google says that it will be a normal feature and enabled by default starting from Android 11. Eventually, the bubble notification system could completely replace the overlay API in the future.

It isn’t clear whether this will be rolled out as a regular feature on Android 10 devices for now. It exists only under the Developer Options undergoing further testing for better support across other apps.