Google Messages saves you from accidental Smart Replies with ‘Tap to draft’

Source: 9to5Google

After testing in March, Google Messages is now rolling out a new “Tap to draft” behavior for Smart Replies that helps prevent accidental sends.

Previously, tapping on a Smart Reply above the compose field would immediately send it. Some users disabled the feature entirely to prevent accidentally sending a message.

Google is now addressing that with “Tap to draft” where picking a Smart Reply adds it to the text box. As such, you have to manually press the send button, with the ability to make further edits before doing so.

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You have to enable Tap to draft by going to Settings > Suggestions & Actions (which was renamed in recent weeks) for the new “Suggestions” menu at the top. At launch, the default behavior remains “Tap to send.”

• Tap to draft: Create a message draft

• Tap to send: Send directly to the chat

We’re seeing this nice quality-of-life improvement rolled out with the latest stable version (20260522_00_RC00) of Google Messages for Android.

More on Google Messages:

• Encrypted RCS starts rolling out to Android and iPhone with iOS 26.5

• Google Messages read receipts redesign continues with old icons, swipe for time

• Google Messages for Android rolls out Trash folder

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