(Update: beta now in Play Store) Quick replies from notifications coming to Android, thanks to MohammadAG

Update, June 4: MohammadAG just kicked off the beta program for the Heads Up Quick Reply app. Information on how to join the beta is available here. The app costs $2.5.

Original, May 25: Quick replies are very convenient for passing back a brief message, however, unfortunately not all apps and OEMs support this helpful messaging feature. If you’re unfamiliar with the concept, rather than having to open up an app to reply to a message, quick replies empower users to respond directly using a box that accompanies a notification.

Enter MohammadAG, who has hastily responded to Reddit requests for a universal quick reply feature. Less than 24 hours after the concept appeared, the developer has already shown off a work in progress video of its Heads Up Quick Replies application.

The option for quick replies is already built within Android, but specific apps and OEMs have to choose to make use of it for their application. Hence some stock and third party SMS applications already support a similar feature, but it’s not automatically universally applied to all messaging apps. Quick Replies aims to accommodate virtually all messaging platforms.

Development plans to avoid the use of root access, meaning that, when it’s finished, a large number of Android handset owners should be able to make use of the app. KitKat and above will be supported and it will apparently work with any app that supports Wear voice replies, including Hangouts, Telegram, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, among others. Unfortunately, removing the stock heads up notification doesn’t seem to be possible without root, but the app is now running over the top of the default notification as a quick fix.

The app is not available to download just yet, as development is still ongoing. Hopefully we’ll see an alpha or beta build show up soon.