Gboard Smart Replies Spotted Working for WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger

Google's Gboard keyboard app has become popular among many Android users, especially after Swype was discontinued recently. The app has been receiving regular updates, including the ability to make GIFs, new sticker gallery, and Morse code input support. Now, it seems that Google is at the verge of rolling out another feature that will give users smart reply suggestions for notifications of various apps like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and more. These smart reply suggestions can be enabled through Gboard, and it will work with the quick reply button that usually succeeds a message in the notification panel. Notably, support for smart replies in third-party apps was tipped in an APK teardown back in January as well.

This feature was spotted by XDA Recognised Developer Quinny899, and it is currently in the development stage. To enable this feature, you need to first open a notification with the quick reply button below it. Once you hit quick reply, Gboard will throw the option to Enable Smart Replies to Notifications. Tapping on that, a new dialogue box will open asking for permission to access notifications on your smartphones. Once the permission is granted, Gboard then throws intelligent smart suggestions, based on the message you receive.

This feature is reportedly said to work with Google apps like Android Messages, Google Allo, and Google Hangouts, but it also works with other third-party applications like Facebook Messenger, Facebook Messenger Lite, Snapchat, WhatsApp, and WeChat. As mentioned, this feature is seen by a few users, and there is no timeline on when the commercial roll out will begin.

Apart from this, Gboard is also set to get a few more key changes such as OCR (optical character recognition) tools, battery saver mode, custom text, and more.

Notably, earlier this year, Google was spotted testing an app called Reply that enabled smart replies in notifications as well.