Google Messages missing contact photos? You’re not alone

  • The latest Google Messages update introduced a new bug that’s making contact photos disappear.
  • The issue appears to only affect some beta users and is not widespread.
  • Affected users are still seeing contact photos in the Contacts app, and it briefly shows when tapping a conversation, but then defaults back to the monogram.

If you’re running the beta version of Google Messages, you might have observed something strange. Don’t worry — you’re not going crazy. There appears to be a bug in the latest update that is causing contact photos to not show up in chat threads.

The issue was brought up by Reddit user Typicalg123 in r/GoogleMessages. Though users can still view their contact photos in the Contacts app, it looks like the images only briefly show when you tap a conversation before defaulting back to the original monogram. From the Reddit discussion, another user, u/Jmerse, states that the bug only seems to affect contacts who use an iPhone.

-- Get the right stuff from a partner you trust. --

Partners

-- IT NEWS --

Blog

admin November 16th, 2025

I can’t say I’m remotely surprised to see reports that the Apple iPhone Air and Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge are […]

admin November 16th, 2025

The vast majority of Android games use touchscreen controls, which makes sense since most Android devices are smartphones or tablets. […]

admin November 15th, 2025

TL;DR Google Play is introducing new “Where to watch” cards for media in its search results. You can quickly see […]