Google Messages to Get New “HQMS” Settings for Google Photos

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Key Points of This Article

• Image and video sharing from Google’s online photo library service, Google Photos, is set to be improved in Google Messages, the default SMS/MMS/RCS messaging client app for Android.
• An analysis of app version messages.android_20251020_01_RC01.phone.openbeta_dynamic has revealed new code for a “Google Photos” setting, which will allow for the direct sharing of URL links to images and videos stored in Google Photos when sending SMS/MMS messages.
• It appears this will be established as a new “HQMS (High Quality Media Sharing)” setting for sharing high-quality, high-resolution images and videos.

Image and video sharing from the Google online photo library service, Google Photos, is set to be improved in Google Messages, the default SMS, MMS, and RCS messaging client app for Android.

An analysis of the in-app code from the app version messages.android_20251020_01_RC01.phone.openbeta_dynamic, released around Friday, October 24, 2025, has revealed the addition of strings related to a new “Google Photos” setting in the Google Messages app for Android. This setting will allow users to directly share URL links to images and videos stored in Google Photos when sending SMS/MMS messages.

<activity android:theme="@style/BugleTheme.ToolbarSettingsActivity" android:label="@string/hqms_settings_title" android:name="com.google.android.apps.messaging.ui.appsettings.HqmsSettingsActivity" android:exported="false" android:screenOrientation="user" android:configChanges="orientation|keyboardHidden" android:parentActivityName="com.google.android.apps.messaging.ui.appsettings.SettingsActivity"/>

<string name="hqms_settings_title">Google Photos</string>
<string name="hqms_always_send_image_as_link_pref_title">Always send images by link in text (SMS/MMS)</string>
<string name="hqms_always_send_video_as_link_pref_title">Always send video by link in text (SMS/MMS)</string>

<bool name="enable_hqms_pref_default">true</bool>

<public type="string" name="hqms_settings_title" id="0x7f150873" />
<public type="string" name="hqms_always_send_image_as_link_pref_key" id="0x7f150870" />
<public type="string" name="hqms_always_send_image_as_link_pref_title" id="0x7f150871" />
<public type="string" name="hqms_always_send_video_as_link_pref_key" id="0x7f150872" />
<public type="string" name="hqms_always_send_video_as_link_pref_title" id="0x7f150874" />
<public type="bool" name="enable_hqms_pref_default" id="0x7f050009" />

Typically, sharing image/video files is not possible via SMS, and while it is possible with MMS, the quality and resolution are reduced. However, sharing images and videos stored in Google Photos as URL links solves both of these issues.

This “Google Photos” setting in the Google Messages app for Android will apparently be established as a new “HQMS (High Quality Media Sharing)” setting for sharing high-quality, high-resolution images and videos. It also seems that users will be able to toggle URL link sharing ON/OFF individually for images and videos.

The newly discovered “Google Photos” setting for the Google Messages app on Android has not yet been officially rolled out. However, since the functionality has been implemented, it is expected to be released soon.

“Google Messages” App Link