Google Messages mini-makeover could reduce accidental presses

Google has been very busy working on tweaks to the Messages app as of late. Only a few days ago, we reported on a number of changes that could be coming our way, like a less tedious way to check timestamps and the ability to choose the resolution of the image you send. Now it appears the company is testing out a new location for the Magic Compose feature.

If you’re unfamiliar with Magic Compose, it is essentially a better version of Smart Reply. The AI tool will provide you with a variety of responses it thinks are appropriate based on the conversation to help save you some time. It first launched in beta back on May 25, 2024.

This feature has previously appeared in the text box or off to the side of it. But according to Android Authority contributor Mishaal Rahman, Google appears to be testing a new location that puts the icon above the message box. You can see an example of the old placement in the left screenshot and the new placement in the right screenshot below.

It’s not a huge change by any means. However, this new location should make it a little less likely for you to accidentally tap on the button the next time you write a message.

Back in August, we noticed in our APK teardown that Google was working on moving the feature to the page that comes up when you tap the plus button. It also appeared that the tech giant was planning to rebrand Magic Compose to Magic Rewrite. As it was an APK teardown, there was no guarantee that this would happen. But given this current test, it looks like Google may have found a more preferable place to put the feature.