Google Messages starts rolling out direct quote replies on desktop

Google Messages for desktop takes the same model as Whatsapp and other popular applications and provides a Google-owned version of the “scan the QR code and see your messages in a web app” model. It’s far from perfect, and the experience differs a bunch depending on whether you’re using Google Fi, RCS messages, or if you have a bunch of the new features the company has failed to roll out to everyone for what feels like forever.

However, the tech giant has been no slouch about improving it over time, and today’s news is no different. Per 9to5Google, Messages for the web are starting to receive the same feature Google Chat just got last week – quotable replies. However, before you get excited, you should know that this only works on RCS chats, and well, as I said, on the web.

Hovering over a message if you have the new feature already (which most likely do not) will reveal a reply button in the shape of a left facing bent arrow. Clicking this will drop the message in question down to the compose box and show it as quoted so you can write an attached message before hitting enter. The recipient will then have more context about the chat you’re referencing since it will be connected to the new message you jotted down.

Of course, this is really useful, and as with pretty much anything Google rolls out, it should have existed way back when the product first launched. Quotable replies were popularized by other applications like Whatsapp and Discord, and it seems Google and other tech corporations are just starting to get with the times. While not available to everyone, as previously stated this new feature is already available to a large number of users, as confirmed by Android Police.

Being someone who frequently holds two to three conversations with one person simultaneously, which I know many people hate, this quote reply option will come in handy for RCS chats. Sometimes, you start a sidebar conversation and it just gets out of hand, what can I say! If you’re interested in this or have it already on the desktop, let me know in the comments. What other features do you think Google Messages is missing to date?