Google's working on a new look for Magic Compose in Messages (APK teardown)

When it comes to Google and generative AI, right now we’re super busy dreaming up crazy images in Pixel Studio, but that’s just one of the company’s many offerings. Last year, we got to know Magic Compose in Messages, letting us use AI to generate suggestions to keep the conversation flowing. That’s still an experiment in testing, and today we’re checking out what looks like an upcoming tweak to how it’s accessed, plus some possible new branding.

We’ve been putting a recent build of Messages, version messages.android_20240819_01_RC00.phone_samsung_openbeta_dynamic, under the microscope, and have uncovered evidence of a new way to access Magic Compose. Right now, the app’s text entry field can get a little cluttered (especially on smaller screens) on account of all the buttons that live there — including Magic Compose.

Instead of accessing it that way, we’ve found work towards moving it to the sheet that comes up when you tap the plus button. While that’s an extra press away, perhaps engagement just isn’t strong enough to justify keeping it out in the open. And more than just being relocated down there, it also looks like Google may be planning to rebrand the feature as Magic Rewrite.

That’s definitely got a different connotation to it, and we wonder if Google is trying to communicate that its tool writes with you, rather than for you. It’s also a name we’ve heard before, and one that’s giving us some Samsung flashbacks.

The change clearly leaves more room for drafting in the app’s text entry box, and we notice that the icon for attaching a photo now no longer disappears after you start typing. Right now none of this is public-facing, and we’ll have to keep waiting a little longer before we see if Google goes through with this minor overhaul to Magic Compose in Messages.