Earlier this year, Google's Area 120 — a division of the company that works on experimental products — pushed out a testing program for an app called "Reply," which added Allo-style, automatically generated smart replies to other messaging apps. That functionality has made its way into other Google apps, with native support for developer implementation of the feature in Android Pie. Based on that success, it appears Area 120 is sunsetting the old Reply app itself.

Originally called a "very early experiment," Reply's days were pretty much numbered at launch since a standalone app wasn't the best implementation for the concept anyway. Since then, Google has incorporated Smart Replies into more apps directly, and it's even something developers can take advantage of in Android P.

Those that relied on Reply for their messaging needs won't immediately be in trouble. Reply will still continue to work for the next few months, according to Google.

The full statement being sent to those who originally signed up is below:

Hello Reply user,

You’re receiving this email because you installed the Reply app from Area

120 at Google. Thanks for doing that!

As you know, Reply was an experiment, and that experiment has now ended.

While it might still work for the next few months, you may encounter bugs,

or see that the suggestions aren’t as good.

We worked with teams in Google to make sure the ideas and learnings from

Reply will live on in other Google products.

All the best, and see you next time!

The Reply Team at Area 120

Smart replies via Reply may not have always offered the best recommendations, but the experiment was definitely a success.

Thanks: Everyone who sent this in.