This week, Google showed off its new quick reply in Gmail feature that is rolling out soon to your app on Android. The big change here is that replying to an email will no longer take you out of the email you were reading and into a new screen, which at least in my opinion, is a pretty big improvement.
The screenshot below shows how this should look once it lands on your device. As you can see, clicking the reply button keeps you within the email you have open and simply embeds an inline reply box. It still has some controls, including the option to full-screen, which would then open a more formal reply screen that you are used to.
What’s the point? For quick responses that don’t need that formal response, this is awesome. Most of the replies I send in Gmail tend to be short and don’t require heavy formatting to keep the conversation moving. Being able to hit reply and instantly respond with “Thanks!” (I’m kidding) sounds wonderful.
Google says that rollout for this change on Android started yesterday (August 26) and will gradually spread over the next 15 days. It could hit Google Workspace users first, but I’d imagine the general Gmail population will be bundled into the Workspace rollout. Be on the lookout and let us know if you see it.
iOS users, you won’t see this change until “later this year.”
Google Play Link: Gmail
This post was last modified on August 27, 2024 9:53 am