The Android version of Gmail welcomes a new input box called Quick Reply allowing you to respond briefly and quickly to messages. Enough to simplify real-time communication.
Normally, when you open an email in the Gmail app for Android and want to reply, you have to tap the reply button to start composing your message. This then opens the email composition area in full screen. This is handy when you’re writing longer responses, but if you just need to send a quick message, it’s slightly a waste of time. Also, Google announced the deployment of a new area for responding to emails, called Quick Reply, in order to facilitate the process. The company has been testing this feature with a handful of users since last November, but it is only today that the change is being rolled out to the general public, as noted 9to5Google.
Gmail quick response: a new, more practical input area
The new Quick Reply area in Gmail’s Android app is visible at the bottom of every email, where you can quickly tap to enter a short response. It replaces the “Reply”, “Reply All” and “Forward” buttons that previously occupied this space at the bottom of the usual interface. This avoids having to open the email compose window in full screen. From left to right, the new quick reply box features a button for attaching a file, a drop-down menu for editing the recipient list or replying to all senders, the respective text box for writing short messages, and an emoji button to respond quickly to emails. When you start typing, the emoji button is replaced by a send button, and an “Expand” button appears, allowing you to switch to the traditional full-screen compose area, which is handy if you must write a long answer.
Gmail’s Quick Reply feature in the mobile app was announced this morning alongside updates to Google Messages and Home for Android. It is rolled out gradually, account by account, through server-side updating. So you may have it on one of your Gmail addresses, but not on the others. So a little patience!