Google Messages group chat invite links look nearly ready to go

Sanuj Bhatia / Android AuthorityTL;DR We saw that Google Messages was working on adding group chat invite links last year. That feature still isn’t generally available, but we’ve managed to get invite links working in a recent beta version of Messages. This makes it seem like group chat invite links could go live in Google Messages any time now. Way back in May of last year, we spotted that Google was working to implement invite links for group chats in Google Messages. The feature was incomplete at the time, and it’s still not accessible by default — but now, we’ve managed to get these invite links up and running.The latest iteration of the in-development invite links feature is fundamentally the same as what we saw last year. Once it’s rolled out, you’ll be able to share text links or QR codes that others can use to join your group chats. The biggest new development here is that the system is now functional: in our recent testing, we were able to generate working invite links.You’re reading an Authority Insights story. Authority Insights brings you all the latest exclusive reports, app teardowns, leaks, and in-depth tech coverage from the Android Authority team that you won’t find anywhere else.We managed to get these invite links working in a recent beta version of the Google Messages app. Based on what we’ve seen, there’ll soon be an Invite via link option in the settings for each group chat in Google Messages. Once you tap that option, you’ll see a toggle to turn link sharing on and off.This view also presents choices to copy the group chat link to your clipboard, forward the link inside Messages, or share the link to any other app. Messages can also generate a QR code that others can scan to join your chat.Invite links and QR codes will automatically reset every 30 days, and members of chats with invite links active can also manually reset invite links at any time.Chats will show when invite links are switched on, with a handy link in the in-line notification that’ll take you right to invite link settings. We’ve also now seen what joining a group chat using one of these links will look like.When we initially saw group chat invite links in development last year, we speculated that it could “roll out in the coming weeks,” but Google evidently had other plans. With chat invite links now seemingly fully functional, though, Google could theoretically roll the feature out at any time. We’ll be on the lookout for an official release.⚠️ An APK teardown helps predict features that may arrive on a service in the future based on work-in-progress code. However, it is possible that such predicted features may not make it to a public release.Thank you for being part of our community. Read our Comment Policy before posting.