Reply is here to bring Smart Reply to your favorite messaging apps

• Google's in-house incubator Area 120 release beta for Reply.
• Reply is an app that brings Smart Reply and other automated messaging features to your Android phone.
• It currently works with popular messaging services such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger.

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Anyone who has used Gmail recently is bound to have noticed the Smart Reply suggestions that appear at the bottom of an email. If you have ever wished that this same feature was available with other messaging services, you'll be happy to know that a new app does just that.

The app is called Reply and it has been built by Google's in-house incubator Area 120. The app was originally announced last week and a beta version of the app has already been released.

It works by showing you three options to select from when you look at a notification, meaning you are able to quickly reply to the message without actually opening the app. It's compatible with many popular messaging apps including Google's own messaging app Hangouts, as well as other such as Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and Twitter Direct Messages.

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The Smart Reply suggestions appear so far to be as useful and intelligent as those offered in Gmail. As soon as I installed the app, I was able to reply to the first three messages I received (all on Facebook Messenger) using the Smart Reply feature.

However, these suggestions aren't the only thing offered by Reply. Just as exciting are the auto-reply features and the integration with other Google services.

For example, the app can link with your Google Calendar to send automatic replies when you are on vacation. It can also integrate with Google maps and, assuming someone asks, use your location to add suggestions about how long it will take you to get somewhere.

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Another nice feature is that you can set up the app to send an automatic reply when you are in certain situations; if you set it up for when you are driving, Reply will send an automatic message to whoever has messaged you telling them you are driving and that you can't send a reply.

At the moment this feature can only be turned on when you are driving, biking, or running and the app does include future options for walking, sleeping, traveling by train, or in a meeting.

As mentioned above, the app is only in the beta stage meaning it isn't yet available on the Play Store. However, if you want to give it a try you can download the APK from the website APKMirror.

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