One of Google Allo’s biggest features, when compared to regular SMS texting, was the AI-powered Smart Replies that Google brought over from Google Assistant. But if you, like most people, don’t actually use Allo, you’ll soon be able to take advantage of smart replies in the regular Android Messages app, as announced by the Project Fi Twitter account.
The feature seems to work similarly to how it does in Allo, Gmail, or Assistant: Google analyzes the text of the conversation, and automatically generates contextual responses in the messaging app that you can select for quick replies. It would seem that to use the feature, Google would require access to your SMS history in addition to all the other personal data that the company has, although messages aren’t stored by Google. Users will also be able to turn this feature on or off.
For now, Google has confirmed that Smart Reply for Android Messages is only rolling out for Project Fi users.
Update January 25th, 5:30pm Google has confirmed that Smart Reply is only available for Project Fi users for now. Also updated article to clarify that Google does not store messages and that Smart Replies can be turned off.