Google is changing how links and YouTube previews look inside conversations on the Android Messages app. The old design showed a URL at the top, an image preview next, and then page title, description, and domain below. Now, it hides the original link if there’s nothing else in the message. The new design has a taller cover image with less cropping and a more prominent background.
In some cases, the text will fit shorter messages by making the preview narrower. Removing the article preview is less intuitive, but makes for a cleaner thread. To see the full URL or turn off previews, go to Messages settings. For YouTube links, tapping opens the video in Google Messages’ picture-in-picture player, but there’s no option to open it directly within the YouTube app.
The redesign looks nice but has some usability issues that need fixing before it’s rolled out widely.
Source: https://9to5google.com/2025/11/28/google-messages-link-previews