Google had announced a number of features at the I/O 2024 developer conference, and the tech giant has now started to roll out one of those features, i.e., contextual smart replies for Gmail on Android and iOS devices. What this feature basically does is that when a user initiates an email reply, then this feature presents three smart replies to the email based on the content of the entire thread. These replies will be presented in a carousel format, and each response will carry a distinct theme and tone. One can preview the texts by long-pressing on the responses.
Google Workspace Updates' post about this feature read, "We’re excited to announce a new Gemini feature in Gmail, contextual Smart Replies, that will offer more detailed responses to fully capture the intent of your message."
If you wish to use the feature and one of the three suggested responses, then all you have to do is click on it, and it will add the response to the body of the email, including a greeting and closing. Fret not, the mail won't be sent automatically, and you will have the chance to make any edits if required.
Contextual Smart Replies Feature's Limitations
The contextual Smart Replies feature is currently limited to English and is accessible to subscribers of Gemini Business, Enterprise, Education, Education Premium, and Google One AI Premium on both Android and iOS platforms. The rollout of this feature has already begun, and it is expected to be broadly available in the coming weeks. To access the feature, users must have "Smart features and personalisation" enabled within Gmail.
Originally launched in 2017, Smart Reply in Gmail used machine learning to generate three quick responses to emails. Now, with this new enhancement, Google seeks to provide more in-depth replies by leveraging Gemini to analyze the email's context and generate responses that are better suited to the conversation at hand.