Sometimes, you just want to fire off a quick email reply from your phone in a few taps, without having to delve into the full reply system and all of its associated tools and controls. In cases like that, some sort of fast reply functionality is ideal.
According to a new blog post, that’s what Google has just added to Gmail’s Android app, with the search giant explaining that the new feature is all about improving the experience for “quick, lightweight responses”.
Instead of having to tap Reply, Reply All or Forward when viewing an email, you can now type your response directly into a text box at the bottom of the email thread. Then just tap the Send button and it’ll be delivered to your recipient.
If you want to get the full suite of messaging tools, including those for bold, italic, font color and more, you can just tap a button in the top-right corner of the text box to expand it to the full, regular view. That’s better for “longer, more formal responses,” Google says.
Coming to iOS later
Interestingly, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen this feature. It was first noted six months ago in February 2024, but it appears that it wasn’t actually released until now. Still, it’s better late than never.
Right now, this feature is only available for Gmail users on the Android operating system, but Google says that it will be coming to iOS “later this year.” If you are on Android, you don’t need to do anything special to activate this feature – just open an email in the Gmail app on Android, swipe to the bottom of the page and start typing in the text box you’ll find there. When you’re done, just tap the Send button.
Of course, if you’d rather not use Gmail, there are plenty of excellent alternatives, and our round-up of the best email clients will help you pick the one that’s right for you. But if you are a Gmail user – and one that uses the app on Android – this new feature will be another reason to stick with Google’s email service.
