Google Messages has confirmed that it is now working on a special fix for the profile detection bug that has been around since Google introduced the feature until last year.
Google confirmed that due to the increased demand from users to participate in the Google Messages service , the company succeeded in revealing the distinguished profiles, but it is still working on fixing the privacy concerns related to the discovery of the profile
The company noted that by looking into the Google Messages v20241010 beta code, changes will give users more control over who can see their name and profile picture, currently as part of the profile discovery feature. You can choose to use the name from your profile or a short name and show or hide your profile picture.
It confirmed that when this update becomes official, you will have new options within Google Messages for profile privacy and visibility
These new options will reportedly be shown to you when you first sign in to Google Messages once the update rolls out, and you'll be able to change this setting through the "Your Profile" option in the account switcher after that as well
At this time, it's not clear whether choosing the "Nobody" option means turning off profile discovery features, however, offering these options is a way to ensure that privacy-conscious individuals don't have to worry about profile discovery features.
Currently, you still can't set a different profile picture or name for Google Messages, and the app takes the picture and name from your Google Account