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Get the most out of your texting experience.
While dedicated chat apps like Signal or Discord are popular these days, it’s hard to replace good old fashioned texting apps. They quick and simple, good for exchanging brief messages. On an iPhone, you use Apple Messages, while on an Android, you use Google Messages. Or “Messages by Google,” I guess, but no one calls it that. Anyway, if you’re using Google Messages, there are a handful of handy situational features you may not be aware of that could prove useful every now and then.
For example, have you ever been in a situation where, for whatever reason, you can’t completely unlock your phone and type out an entire message? This is what smart replies are for. Google Messages can parse the context of a conversation, looking for certain words or phrases, and recommend quick tappable replies like “thanks” or “okay.” If you need to answer quickly and concisely, it’s quite helpful.
Has a friend ever requested that you message them at a very particular time, maybe as an alarm or a heads up? You can schedule out messages for a future date and time rather than just send them out right away. All you have to do is hold down the Send button on your message rather than just tapping it, and you’ll get a prompt to set a precise send time. When the time comes, it’ll send automatically, no further action from you required.
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Most of all, are you tired of constant spam texts? Goodness knows I am. Google Messages does have a built-in spam filter to detect obvious junk, but if something slips through, you can mark it manually to prevent any more messages from that address. Just tap the More and Details buttons on a particular chat and tap Block and Report. If it’s just someone being obnoxious, you can also just block them without reporting them.
