Google Messages Adds a Floating Long-Press Menu and New Swipe Gestures for Timestamps and Replies
Google is rolling out a redesigned long-press menu and new swipe gestures in Google Messages on Android, changing how users copy text, check timestamps, and reply to individual messages.
The changes are tied to recent Google Messages builds, including version 20260910_03_RC02, and are being enabled server-side, so not every phone receives them at the same time.
The new menu was first spotted by users on Reddit, and Google has confirmed that the touch-and-hold actions work on text, images, videos, links, files, locations, and contact cards.
Google Messages Long-Press Menu and Text Selection
Long-pressing a message no longer pushes controls into a toolbar at the top of the screen. Google Messages now opens a floating menu right beside the selected bubble and blurs the rest of the conversation in the background. The menu offers Reply, Forward, Copy, Star, Delete, Select more, and Info. Images get two extra options, Save and Remix.
Copying text also changes. Previously, the Copy action grabbed the entire message, even when only a phone number or an address was needed. With the update, pressing a second time lets users drag selection handles and copy only a specific snippet, such as a verification code or a street address. The text selection change had been discovered earlier in an APK teardown before reaching users.
New Swipe Gestures for Timestamps and Replies
The gesture changes are the part that takes the most getting used to. Swiping left anywhere in a conversation now reveals the timestamps and the RCS encryption status of every visible message at once. Replying moved to a right swipe made directly on a message bubble.
Tapping a message still shows read receipts. To help users notice the new behavior, Google Messages also displays timestamps briefly after a tap.
Users who have the update can try the new controls this way:
- Touch and hold any message bubble to open the floating menu with Reply, Forward, Copy, Star, Delete, Select more, and Info.
- Press on the message text again and drag the selection handles to copy only part of a message.
- Swipe left anywhere in the conversation to see timestamps and the RCS encryption status for all messages.
- Swipe right on a specific bubble to reply to that message.
The left-swipe timestamp view is most useful in long threads, where it replaces opening message details one by one to check when each message was sent.
Google has not published a timeline for the server-side rollout. Users who do not see the new menu yet should keep Google Messages updated, since having the latest build alone does not guarantee that the changes are active on a device.
I find it incredible that it took until 2026 for Google Messages to allow copying part of a text message. I wish Samsung didn’t force their users over to Google Messages.
I’m not entirely sure that Google Messages is GDPR compliant either. Even if “Phone Number Verification” is disabled in both the online Google account and on the device under [Android Settings > Google Services], Google forces a Welcome screen. There is no way to bypass this Welcome screen in order to use Google Messages and pressing the blue button signs Google Messages into your Google Account. When it does this, Google automatically activates Phone Number Verification and transfers your phone number to Google (it’s stored under [Google Account > Personal Info > Phone]). Not only does this make it impossible not to give your phone number to Google, but it automatically enables other privacy invading features like making your phone number discoverable. This is not consent.