Google is testing smart replies in popular third-party messaging apps

Google Reply
Android Police/Googles Area 120

Google is working on bringing smart replies, the feature which it first introduced to Inbox back in 2015, to all messaging apps so that people can reply to friends with just the tap of a button from their notifications.

Smart Reply is an AI-powered technology that creates automatic response suggestions. Since rolling out the feature to Inbox, Google has introduced it to Gmail, Project Fi, and Allo. Now, as first reported by Android Police, the feature could be on its way to third-party applications.

The project, called simply ‘Reply’, has come from Google’s experimental product workshop, Area 120. The app is currently only being offered to Android users as part of a test, which select people have been invited to.

According to a test sign-up form for Reply, the feature will be available on chat apps including Hangouts, Facebook Messenger, Android Messages, WhatsApp, Skype, Slack, Line, and WeChat.  

“You probably get a lot of chat messages,” said Area 120 in an email to testers. “And you want to be there for people, but also for people in the real world. What if replying were literally one tap away?

“Reply puts the Smart Reply you may know from Google right into notifications from the chat apps you use most often.”