Moving through messages in any conversation when using Google Messages with screen reader gestures that navigate between onscreen items causes significant focus jumps. Open any conversation, focus on the message input box, and swipe to reach the message list. Instead of landing on the most recent message, the focus is thrown back to a random message.
Another focus issue in Google Messages is that Jieshuo navigates items in reverse order. For example, when on a message, you must move to the previous item to read the next message, rather than moving to the next.
However, exploring the screen by touch to read messages works without any issues.
These issues have been tested and confirmed on Android 14, with no information on whether they affect earlier Android versions.