Google seems to be on the brink of enabling Markdown support for its SMS and chat app Messages. The website The Spandroid managed to activate and use this feature in the current beta version of the app via flags.
Markdown is a markup language used for formatting text, inserting links within text, creating lists, and embedding code and images. Various control characters are utilized for these purposes, and their usage remains consistent across any app that supports Markdown.
One of Markdown’s advantages is that text formatted with it can be seamlessly transferred to other Markdown-compatible applications without losing its formatting. This is why note-taking software like Obsidian (g+) also utilizes Markdown.
Markdown’s suitability for chat apps
With Markdown, it’s relatively easy to input basic formatting such as bold or italic text without the need to select the text first and then change it through a pop-up menu. This convenience could prove practical, especially for a chat app like Messages.
Some other chat apps also allow text formatting to varying extents, such as Signal and WhatsApp. In Signal, users have to highlight the text they’ve inputted and can then utilize basic formatting through a pop-up menu. WhatsApp, in addition to formatting through a menu, uses Markdown-like syntax, though its scope is limited to fundamental text formatting.
As tested by The Spandroid, the Messenger version with Markdown integration allows users to insert images through the markup language and embed links within text. It also supports the various headers that Markdown enables.
According to The Spandroid, the Markdown integration isn’t merely a test; the feature is expected to be rolled out to all users soon.
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