Gmail’s nifty Smart Compose feature is now available to all Android handsets

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One of the coolest things added to Gmail recently has been Google’s Smart Compose feature. First launched on the browser-based version of Gmail last year, the feature uses machine learning to offer next phrases based on your writing style. Now, it’s available on all Android handsets.

While it’s handy on the desktop, it really shines on mobile, where typing two-thumbed on a tiny virtual keyboard slows anyone down. Now, with the power of AI, Google analyzes your prior emails to figure out what it thinks you’ll type next. Even better, it’s now available on all Android handsets.

More about Gmail’s Smart Compose

The feature is pretty solid. I’ve been using it over the last couple of days and the suggestions are either usable or close maybe 70% of the time. We’ve come a long way from the early days of T9 dictionary prediction.

As you type, Gmail reads your typing and puts suggestions for the next phrase or sentence in gray. To choose them, as with any popular dating app, just swipe right. Those suggestions are pulled from billions of common phrases and sentences that Google put into its dataset, but it also tweaks them to sound more like your writing style.

Image: Google

Pixel 3 owners have been able to use Smart Compose in their Gmail app since last fall, Google is now rolling it out to all Android phones. It’ll come auto-enabled once you get the updated Gmail app, so try it out for a while. If you don’t like the eerie predictions, go turn it off in the Gmail settings menu, where there’s a checkbox to toggle the Smart Compose feature.

What do you think? Have you been using the feature? Do you like it? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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Joe Rice-Jones

Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience at KnowTechie, SlashGear and XDA Developers. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere, with particular focus in gadgetry and handheld gaming. Shoot him an email at joe@knowtechie.com.