Gmail redesigning email replies with chat-style UI [U]

Abner Li | Feb 10 2024 - 11:31 am PT

After introducing emoji reactions and tweaking the search bar, a bigger Gmail update introduces a chat-style reply UI on Android.

Update 2/10/24: Gmail is still testing this chat-style redesign of the reply UI three months later. As of this week, it’s rolling out for more people, but is not seeing wide availability yet. It does suggest Google is proceeding with this revamp, which looks simpler but might be disliked by power users for adding an extra step to access “Reply all” and “Forward.”

Related: Google Chat rolls out ability to star messages and floating bar overflow sheet

Top: Current | Bottom: New

Original 11/8/23: Most people today reply to emails after scrolling to the bottom. You get options for Reply, Reply all, and Forward, as well as the new emoji reactions. (You can also reply from the top of the email.)

Gmail (via Android Police) is now testing a Reply field that sticks to the bottom — in a nice time saver — of the screen. This text box looks a lot like Google Chat with a pill-shaped container flanked by buttons for attaching media and emoji.

The box lets you select a reply type, as well as edit who you’re sending to, at the left, while you can expand to the current fullscreen UI on the other end.

Tapping opens a keyboard and slides up the reply field with a send button appearing at the right. As such, you can write your reply and still see the email body to preserve context, which is the most meaningful change. It’s not clear where Quick Replies live in this UI.

This Gmail redesign is a pretty big change, especially for an app that doesn’t see that many, if Google decides to proceed. It’s not yet widely rolled out at this point and not appearing on serveral devices we checked this afternoon.

It follows work on a voice compose UI that should be aligned with Duet AI.