Should You Disable Google Messages’ Controversial Gallery Redesign Before It Disrupts Your Texting?

Why Are Users Furious About Google Messages’ New Camera Feature and How Can You Fix It?

Google Messages just rolled out a major gallery update that’s causing quite a stir among users. I’ve been testing this redesign extensively, and I need to share what I’ve discovered about these changes and why you might want to consider disabling certain features.

What Changed in the Google Messages Gallery

The old gallery design was simple and practical. It showed up as a small window at the bottom of your screen. You could see a tiny camera preview on the left side and your recent photos on the right. The best part? You could still read your messages while browsing photos.

Now everything’s different. Google switched to a full-screen gallery that takes over your entire screen. There’s a huge camera viewfinder at the top and your recent photos lined up at the bottom. When you open this gallery, you can’t see your messages anymore. You have to close the whole thing just to read what someone sent you.

This change makes taking new photos easier because the camera preview is much bigger. You can also see full-size previews of your photos right in the gallery. But it comes with trade-offs that many users find frustrating.

New Features That Actually Matter

Despite the controversial design changes, Google added two features that users have been requesting for years:

Photo Captions

You can now add text descriptions to your photos before sending them. Just pick a photo, and you’ll see a “Write a caption” box at the bottom. Type whatever you want, and it’ll be attached to your photo. If you select multiple photos, you can only write one caption that shows up with the first photo.

Quality Control

Google removed the old “Send photos faster” setting and replaced it with something better. Now you can choose the quality for each photo as you send it. Tap the “HD+” button at the top of the preview, and you’ll see two options: “Optimized for chat” (compressed for faster sending) and “Original Quality” (full resolution). This setting applies to all photos you select at once, but it doesn’t work for videos.

Both features require RCS messaging to work properly. If you don’t have RCS enabled, you won’t see these options.

Why People Are Upset About the Camera Viewfinder

The massive camera viewfinder is causing real problems for users. I’ve seen complaints across Reddit and other platforms about several issues:

• Privacy concerns: The camera is always pointing outward when you open the gallery, which makes people uncomfortable in public spaces
• Distraction: The large viewfinder draws attention away from the actual purpose of browsing photos
• Accidental activation: Some users worry about accidentally taking photos or videos
• Screen real estate: The viewfinder takes up valuable space that could show more photos

These aren’t minor complaints. Many users find the feature intrusive enough that they want to disable it entirely.

How to Turn Off the Camera Viewfinder

If the camera viewfinder bothers you, here’s how to disable it:

1. Press and hold the Google Messages app icon on your home screen
2. Tap “App info” from the menu that appears
3. Select “App permissions“
4. Tap “Camera“
5. Choose “Don’t allow“
6. Confirm by selecting “Don’t Allow Anyway“

When you open the gallery again, Google Messages will ask for camera permission. Select “Don’t Allow” again. This completely removes the camera viewfinder from your gallery experience.

The downside is that you won’t be able to take new photos directly from Messages anymore. You’ll need to use your regular camera app and then share photos through the gallery.

Is This Update Worth Keeping?

The redesign brings genuine improvements alongside frustrating changes. The photo captions and quality control features are valuable additions that many users will appreciate. The full-screen preview also makes it easier to see photos clearly before sending them.

However, the loss of multitasking capability is significant. Not being able to read messages while browsing photos disrupts the natural flow of conversation. The intrusive camera viewfinder compounds this problem for many users.

My recommendation depends on how you use Messages. If you frequently send photos with captions or need full-resolution sharing, the update offers clear benefits. But if you prefer the old streamlined experience and rarely take photos directly in Messages, disabling the camera viewfinder might be your best option.

The full-screen gallery itself can’t be disabled, so you’ll need to adapt to that change regardless. Google seems committed to this direction, so these changes are likely permanent.