Gmail just gave Android fans a speedier way to reply to emails

Reply with just a tap

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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 anew blog post, that’s whatGooglehas 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 notedsix months agoin 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 Androidoperating system, but Google says that it will be coming to iOS “later this year.” If youareon 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 thebest email clientswill 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.

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Alex Blake has been fooling around with computers since the early 1990s, and since that time he’s learned a thing or two about tech. No more than two things, though. That’s all his brain can hold. As well as TechRadar, Alex writes for iMore, Digital Trends and Creative Bloq, among others. He was previously commissioning editor at MacFormat magazine. That means he mostly covers the world of Apple and its latest products, but also Windows, computer peripherals, mobile apps, and much more beyond. When not writing, you can find him hiking the English countryside and gaming on his PC.

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