Those SMS/MMS responses are known as “fallback” texts, and in iMessage, they’re sent in place of reaction messages to anyone who doesn’t use iMessage. In Google’s Messages 5.8, released on the Play Store to beta testers, 9to5Google spotted code that suggests Google is preparing similar “fallback” text, which would be sent to anyone who doesn’t have RCS.

As 9to5Google points out, this could further the petty, green-versus-blue bubble war between Android and iOS users, as iMessage and Google Messages users could find it frustrating to receive fallback texts from each other. Plus, we don’t know how long it will take before these text responses are available in RCS apps beyond Google Messages, like Verizon Messages or Samsung Messages. If those apps can only receive fallback texts, it could make messaging even more fragmented.

RCS is considered a rough parallel to Apple’s iMessage with WiFi chatting, high-quality photos and videos, typing notifications, read receipts and better group chat controls. It doesn’t have end-to-end encryption like iMessage, though. As with SMS, your conversations aren’t particularly secure.

There’s still a long way to go before RCS is truly universal, though. Google reiterated that the technology is only available beyond the US in France, Mexico and the UK, and it’s still “working’ to bring support to both more regions and third-party apps. And of course, Apple isn’t in a rush to support RCS. Although the finished US rollout is a major milestone, it’s only one step among many.

This won’t be thrilling if you prefer an alternative app (like the one from your phone manufacturer), but it might be worthwhile for the benefits when you’re chatting with other RCS users. You can chat over WiFi, send high-quality media, see when people are typing and get read receipts. You can also easily manage and rename group chats.

There is a caveat: RCS doesn’t support end-to-end encryption like Apple’s iMessage, Facebook Messenger, Signal or similar services. Google has promised that it will only store messages while they’re in transit, but the truly privacy-conscious won’t want to use RCS for anything particularly sensitive. RCS is more an upgrade to SMS than its own messaging service, and that means dealing with similar privacy risks.

There are some clear caveats. You’ll need a current Android Messages beta (5.2 as of this writing), an app that can see Android activities (such as Activity Launcher) and WiFi turned off. And that’s assuming the feature stays on. It’s possible that Google can shut off access to this solution with little notice.

Despite those limitations, people have had success using this method on a variety of devices, all four major US carriers and at least some international networks. It’s technically feasible to make RCS widely available, then. With that said, enabling universal RCS access may not be just a matter of flipping a virtual switch. Google’s official approach involves users’ clients pinging each other to see if the next-gen messaging is available. It may not want roll out the ability beyond France and the UK until it knows it can easily and reliably push the feature to everyone.

It looks like Google is testing five effects at the moment, including one that shows your face through the window of a cartoon airplane before it flies away. The balloon effect puts flying balloons in front of and behind you, while another puts a fireworks display right in your living room. There’s also a confetti effect and an angel filter that gives you a halo and a pair of wings. The halo can follow your head around, just like Snapchat’s face filters.

XDA says it was only able to access the effects through the messaging app’s camera and that they weren’t available through the standalone camera app. While the animated messages could reportedly be sent as SMS or MMS, the feature will go well with Google’s RCS rollout, which will give you the ability to send and receive high-quality media and get read receipts in the Messages app, among other things. As with any experimental feature, it may take some time before it becomes available to the public. When it does, we hope you’re ready for a barrage of Snapchat-like animations flooding your Messages.