Your guide to Google Messages’ new hidden gestures
One of the most rewarding parts of being a Certified Android Explorer™ is the geeky pleasure that comes with uncovering a hidden shortcut Google snuck somewhere into its smartphone software. One of the most exhausting parts, in contrast, is realizing that Google randomly changed a bunch of the shortcuts you’d found and developed the muscle memory to remember. Here in the land o’ Googley matters,…
Google's Android Messages app for Android devices offers a plethora of hidden shortcuts and gestures that power users can utilize to communicate more efficiently. However, Google has recently revamped many of these hidden features, causing some confusion among users. To make sure you're getting the most out of Google Messages, here's your comprehensive guide to the app's new hidden gestures.
First and foremost, a long-press on any individual message within a thread will now bring up a new pop-up menu. This menu will include options for selecting multiple messages for copying, forwarding, or deleting, as well as a "Copy" option to copy the contents of the selected message onto your Android system clipboard. Additionally, an "Info" option will provide more details about the message's status, such as whether it has been edited after delivery.
When swiping a message to the right, users can now directly reply to that specific text, effectively quoting and repeating the original message above their response. This is particularly useful for keeping track of conversations, especially when multiple topics are being discussed or when replying to something from a while back.
Conversely, swiping a message to the left will reveal the timestamp indicating when the message was received. While this information used to be readily available, it has now been tucked away out of sight unless the user performs the subtle swipe to reveal it.
Tapping on a message that has been sent within a conversation will display status markers in a thread where everyone is using the current RCS messaging standard. These markers will show if the message was delivered and if it has been read by the recipient.
Finally, tapping the profile photo at the top of any individual thread will take users to an info screen about the conversation. From there, users can adjust various settings and view more information about all other participants in the chat. They can also add these participants to their Android contacts with just a few taps. If the conversation involves multiple people, tapping the name of any individual will summon a pop-up panel related to that person. From this panel, a single tap will allow users to call or message that individual directly.
Written by urgent.news from Computerworld's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
