Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Google is improving options for copying links received via Google Messages.
- Instead of copying the entire message and then booting the extra text, Google Messages may soon let you just copy the link directly.
- Google is also working on letting you edit Smart Replies before sending them.
Google Messages already gives you a bit of an advantage when handling links. For instance, it generates previews for URLs embedded in received messages. However, when it comes to copying those links, it forces you to copy the entire message and then clip out the link manually. This, as you would guess, is inconvenient, but Google could soon bring a fix. Along with this fix, Google could be working to improve how you send Smart Replies.
We’ve learned that Google is working on a new option to let you copy just the link embedded in a message. We were able to tweak the latest public beta version (20260113_01_RC00) of the Google Messages app to enable the feature and give you a preview.
With this activated, long-pressing a message bubble shows two separate options for “Copy” and “Copy URL” in the menu that pops up. The latter lets you copy just the URL rather than the entire message.
However, this facility appears to be limited to when there is a single link in the message. In case of multiple links in the same message, the menu does not show a Copy URL option, leaving you at the mercy of the standard Copy technique.
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In this version of Google Messages, we’ve also spotted another change being worked on, which relates to how Smart Replies work. Currently, Smart Replies, or AI-generated responses relevant to the last received message, appear right above the message compose box in the chat. When you tap these suggested responses, they’re sent directly, which may not always be desirable.
Google is now working on the means to make these replies easier to edit before you send them. This will be optional, and Google appears to be testing a toggle that will let you choose whether to send suggested messages directly or edit them first.
The toggle will appear in Message settings > Suggestions inside the Google Messages app. The toggle text alternates between “Tap to Send” and “Tap to Edit” when you enable or disable it.
The feature does not work at the moment, so we can’t confirm exactly how it works. But we hope to get it working in upcoming versions of the app.
Additionally, we suspect this setting might also apply to Magic Cue suggestions on Pixel 10 series or newer Google phones. Currently, Magic Cue suggestions are sent directly when you tap on them.
⚠️ An APK teardown helps predict features that may arrive on a service in the future based on work-in-progress code. However, it is possible that such predicted features may not make it to a public release.
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