Urgent.News

What's breaking now, across thousands of outlets.

Tech

I built my own Google Photos at home; it couldn't do the one thing I actually wanted

I moved 270GB of photos off Google onto my own AI setup. It matched two of Google's tricks. The third, it just won't build

I built my own Google Photos at home; it couldn't do the one thing I actually wanted

Google Messages, a comprehensive texting app, has recently introduced custom chat themes, a feature long sought by users. As of late August 2026, the option to personalize conversations is now available, bringing much excitement to Android enthusiasts. To start customizing your chats, ensure your Google Messages app is up-to-date.

Open the Play Store, tap your profile icon, proceed to Manage apps & device, and check for updates. Once updated, enable RCS chats in the app settings. With RCS enabled, navigate to the chat themes page, where you will find various customization options. Choose from a range of chat colors, including your system accent color or custom wallpaper, or select one of eight predefined styles.

These adjustments affect the conversation background, chat bubbles, and other UI elements. Additionally, you can set a personalized wallpaper from a selection of pre-selected images or upload any image from your phone or Google Photos. Remember, these customizations are exclusive to your end of the conversation, ensuring privacy for your unique style.

Written by urgent.news from Android Authority's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.

This story

This is one outlet's version. Read the fullest account.

Read the original at androidpolice.com →

More in Tech

Managing External Secrets in Docker Swarm

I've been working with Docker Swarm secrets and kept running into one limitation: secrets are immutable. Once a secret is created, you can't update its value.

  • Cloud-secrets bridges external secret stores with Docker Swarm.
  • Maintains standard Docker secrets for applications.
  • Supports HashiCorp Vault as external secret store.

Crypts and Commits: This Documentation Isn't for You

The Audience I Didn't Know I Had — Part Two When I leave a software project, I want the next person to be able to take it over without needing me in the room.

  • Author started documenting in 2012 at EHR startup scaling from 4 to 40 developers.
  • Documentation evolved from README.md to architecture notes, runbooks, release notes.
  • AI coding assistants amplify value of documentation but cannot replace human judgment.

More from Saturday 29 August →