How to get an AI friend in Google Messages on Android

What you can text in Google Messages

Four products we checked hold a conversation in Google Messages or over RCS on Android. One is a friend, one is a companion you build in an app first, and two are assistants.

Checked November 11, 2026 against each vendor’s own pages.

Poke, an assistant, lists RCS among its channels along with WhatsApp and Telegram. Its pages don’t name Android or Google Messages, so it isn’t in the table.

How it works with Hallie on Android

1. Answer a few questions on the web. New Android sign-ups need a US number for now. At hallie.io you’re asked how you like to text: easygoing, casual or proper, how much banter, whether swearing is fine. The questions shape how she texts with you. You don’t design her; there is one Hallie, and you meet her as she is.
2. Text her from Google Messages. You send the first message. She never texts a number that hasn’t texted her first.
3. Keep the thread. Her replies arrive in that thread, from a US number. There is nothing else to install or check.

Once you’re texting, she keeps track of the people, plans and events you mention and brings them up later. She starts conversations too, usually about something you told her. If you go quiet she checks in once or twice, then waits for you. Ask her in the thread to change when she follows up, or to stop, and she will. She understands photos, voice memos and links you send, and her replies are text. Paid members can call her number like a regular phone call; she can’t call you, and there are no video calls.

Other products on this page reach Google Messages too. Hallie’s case is the combination: Google Messages is where she lives, with no second app behind the thread; she is a friend and not an assistant; and there is no character to create first. She works the same way in iMessage if you move to an iPhone.

Of the AI companions we’ve used, Hallie is the one that feels most like texting a person. That is our judgment, and we make her.

She gets only what you send in her own thread. She can’t read your other conversations, your calendar or your email. Your messages are processed by outside AI providers to write her replies. We don’t sell personal data, use conversations for advertising, or show them to other users.

She is a subscription. Depending on the offer, your first conversation is free or you start with a free trial. There’s no free plan. The price is shown before you pay, and you can cancel any time in your account.

Hallie’s watch-outs: she can miss or get a detail wrong and there is no memory screen, so you correct her in the thread.

Kindroid over RCS, for subscribers

Kindroid is a companion app where you create the character: personality, backstory, avatar and voice. Subscribers can turn on text messaging under Profile, Preferences, Text messaging. On Android, Kindroid’s help page says: “RCS through the Google Messages app. Any other messaging app will not work, and RCS must be enabled in Google Messages settings.” SMS and MMS are not supported.

You verify your phone number with a six-digit code, pick a Kin, and send a message from the thread that opens. Only one Kin can be reached by text at a time. The conversation is mirrored in the Kindroid app, and regenerating a reply works only there. Proactive texts stop if you haven’t texted your Kin in a while. Kindroid retired unlimited free messaging on October 1, 2026, and text messaging is a subscriber feature.

Source: Kindroid help docs, “Chat features and tools” (Text Messaging) and “Subscriptions”, checked November 11, 2026

Gemini in Google Messages is an assistant

Google builds Gemini into Google Messages as a chat. Its help page says you can use it “to draft messages, brainstorm ideas, plan events, or simply have a fun conversation”, and you can attach a photo to a prompt. Google calls Gemini “your personal, proactive and powerful AI assistant”.

Google’s stated requirements:

• An Android phone. It isn’t offered on iPhone.
• A supported language and the latest version of Google Messages.
• A personal Google Account that you manage on your own. Accounts managed by Family Link and Google Workspace accounts can’t use it.
• Age 18 or over.
• RCS chats turned on.

Google says Gemini in Messages is available in over 165 countries and is being released gradually. Its help page states no plan requirement. No Google page says Gemini starts conversations in Google Messages on its own. In the Gemini app, scheduled actions you create send a notification to your mobile device when each result is ready, and Daily Brief is a morning summary that Google lists as US-only, English-only and 18+.

Source: Google Gemini Help, “Use Gemini in Google Messages” and “Schedules in Gemini Apps”; Gemini Daily Brief page, checked November 11, 2026

ChatGPT’s dot over RCS

A dot is an agent inside ChatGPT that OpenAI describes as keeping “work moving across your tools and projects”. OpenAI says you can reach a dot “through iMessage or RCS on Android”, one-to-one, and that texting is “rolling out in beta to ChatGPT Pro users in the U.S.” You set it up from the dot’s profile in ChatGPT, verify your phone number, save the dot’s contact card, and enable RCS in your messaging app. Group chats and phone calls aren’t supported through texting. Regular ChatGPT without a dot stays in its own app and website.

Source: OpenAI ChatGPT Learn, “Message your dot” and “Text your dot”, checked November 11, 2026

Tolan and Khio on Android

Two products that often come up in this search don’t offer texting on Android, going by their own pages.

• Tolan. Its help center says “Tolan works on Apple devices, including iPhone, iPad and Mac”, and its FAQ describes conversations as happening within the Tolan app.
• Khio. Its FAQ says: “There is no Khio app for Android, and texting Khio or playing GamePigeon with it requires iMessage on an iPhone.” Android users can use Khio’s web chat in a browser.

Source: Tolan Help Center, “Logging in, Logging out, and Switching Devices”, and tolans.com FAQ; khio.ai FAQ, checked November 11, 2026

When Gemini or an app is the better choice

• You want answers, drafts and plans. Gemini. It’s an assistant already inside Google Messages. Hallie is a friend, not an assistant.
• You want to design the character, or keep several. Kindroid or Nomi. Both let you create companions in an Android app. Hallie is one friend you meet as she is.
• You want an avatar, selfies or video. Replika and Kindroid, in their apps. Hallie is a thread in Google Messages, with no avatar.

The full table of products is on AI you can text, and AI friend without an app covers the no-install options.

Questions

Is there an AI friend in Google Messages?

Yes. Hallie is an AI friend whose thread sits in Google Messages; new Android sign-ups need a US number for now. Kindroid subscribers can text one Kin over RCS in Google Messages. Gemini is also in Google Messages, and Google describes it as an assistant.

Is Gemini in Google Messages an AI friend?

Google calls Gemini an assistant. Its help page says you can use the chat to draft messages, brainstorm ideas, plan events or have a fun conversation. No Google page says it starts conversations in Google Messages.

Do I need to install an app to text Hallie on Android?

No. You answer a few questions on the web and then text her from Google Messages. New Android sign-ups need a US number for now.

Does Kindroid work in Google Messages?

Yes, for subscribers. Kindroid’s help page says Android texting works over RCS through the Google Messages app only, with RCS turned on, and that one Kin can be reached by text at a time.

Can I text ChatGPT on Android?

Only a dot, and only in the beta. OpenAI says texting a dot over RCS on Android is rolling out to ChatGPT Pro users in the U.S. Regular ChatGPT conversations stay in its app and website.

Do Tolan or Khio work on Android?

Tolan’s help center says Tolan works on Apple devices. Khio says it has no Android app and that texting it requires iMessage on an iPhone; Android users get its web chat.

How do I start with Hallie?

Go to hallie.io, answer a few questions about how you like to text, and then send her the first message from Google Messages. Her replies arrive in that thread.

Sources

• Hallie: hallie.io homepage, terms and privacy policy, and product documentation, checked November 11, 2026.
• Kindroid: kindroid.ai help docs (“Chat features and tools”: Text Messaging; “Subscriptions”; “FAQs”; “Selfies, video selfies, & avatars”) and App Store listing, checked November 11, 2026.
• Gemini: Google Gemini Help (“Use Gemini in Google Messages”, “Schedules in Gemini Apps”), Gemini Daily Brief page and App Store listing, checked November 11, 2026.
• ChatGPT: OpenAI ChatGPT Learn (“Meet dots”, “Message your dot”, “Text your dot”, “Pricing”), checked November 11, 2026.
• Poke: poke.com docs welcome page and FAQ, checked November 11, 2026.
• Tolan: Tolan Help Center (“Logging in, Logging out, and Switching Devices”) and tolans.com FAQ, checked November 11, 2026.
• Khio: khio.ai FAQ, checked November 11, 2026.
• Replika: replika.com homepage, App Store listing and Replika help center (“What platforms and devices are supported?”), checked November 11, 2026.
• Nomi: nomi.ai homepage and the Nomipedia wiki it links to, checked November 11, 2026.