Google Messages has begun a wide rollout of a new long-press menu within conversations. This update replaces the former top toolbar, which previously displayed only three actions with others hidden in an overflow menu.
Upon long-pressing a chat message or image, users will now see a floating menu. This menu includes options such as Remix (for photos), Reply, Forward, Copy (for text), Star, Delete, Select more, Info, and Save (for photos). Each action is accompanied by an icon for easier identification.
A key new feature is the ability to precisely copy text. Users can now highlight a specific portion of a message by pressing and dragging a bubble, a change from the previous limitation of only copying the entire message.
When the newest message in a thread is selected, Google Messages will center it with a bouncy animation and haptic feedback. The background layer is blurred when the menu is active. Emoji and "Create" Photomoji shortcuts remain unchanged.
The new Google Messages long-press menu is rolling out with stable version 20260910_03_RC02. The update has a server-side component, and users may need to force stop the application from the App info menu if the feature is not immediately visible.
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Google Messages is rolling out updated swipe gestures for accessing message timestamps and direct replies. Users can now swipe left in a conversation to view all timestamps and RCS encryption status, and swipe right on a message bubble to reply directly.
Google Messages is widely rolling out a new long-press menu in conversations, replacing the previous top toolbar. This update allows users to precisely copy specific parts of a message, rather than only the entire message.