One of the features announced Wednesday at Google I/O 2017 is Gmail Smart Reply. It was first released for the web in 2015, as a way to let people send short, canned messages in email, similar to iMessage on the Apple Watch. Now it’s finally coming to the Gmail app on iOS.
Gmail Smart Reply
The Gmail Smart Reply feature relies on machine learning, something of which Google has in spades. When you receive an email, the app presents you with three quick replies at the bottom. Google’s algorithms scan the email and give you replies it thinks are relevant. You can tap on a reply and edit if you wish, then send it.
Google says that 12% of Gmail users use this feature, and that number will surely increase now that mobile users have access to it. It seems like the perfect feature to use on the Apple Watch, but the Gmail app isn’t available for that platform. Still, if you prefer the Gmail app over Apple’s Mail app, this might save you unnecessary typing.
Gmail for iOS is available on the App Store. As of this writing, it hasn’t been updated with the new feature.