Your guide to Google Messages’ new hidden gestures

One of the most rewarding parts of being a Certified Android Explorer™ is the geeky pleasure that comes with uncovering a hidden shortcut Google snuck somewhere into its smartphone software. One of the most exhausting parts, in contrast, is realizing that Google randomly changed a bunch of the shortcuts you’d found and developed the muscle memory to remember. Here in the land o’ Googley matters, both of those things are constant realities and balancing forces. In fact, we’re watching that exact duality play out in the Google Messages app for Android right now. Google Messages has so many tucked-away options and power-user shortcuts that most mere mortals never notice — or just don’t remember to use. And now, sure enough, Google’s in the midst of rolling out an update that changes the way many of ’em work. Maybe you’ve noticed. Maybe you had no idea those invisible gestures were even there in the first place. Either way, now’s the time to learn or relearn the best ways to get around Google Messages on Android and take full advantage of its recently revamped invisible actions. Here’s your guide to all the hidden swipes, taps, and presses and how they can help you communicate more ef…

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