Using the increasing power of its AI smarts, Google is getting better at anticipating our next move and offering us convenient suggestions that make our lives easier. We've seen this with App Actions in Android and suggested edits in Google Photos, and now a similar feature has arrived in the Google Messages app.

'Suggested actions' has appeared in the settings under the same heading as smart replies, which makes sense since they're both AI-leveraging features. The only example listed of a potential suggestion is sharing your location, but that's certainly a handy use case. Even so, we've tried to trigger it using the example below and it didn't work, so we're not sure quite how to get it running yet.

There's no mention of which other suggested actions will be surfaced, so keep an eye out and let us know of anything else you see. According to the small print in the settings, "suggestions vary based on your conversation, and are generated on-device." Since it's the first version of the feature available to the public, I'm sure it will improve over time and gain new capabilities. Its inclusion in this version could also signal that full Google Assistant integration for Messages is imminent.

To get suggested actions, you'll need the latest version of the Google Messages app. You can download the v4.1.065 update from APK Mirror if it's not yet reached your device via the Play Store.

Update: It's been pointed out in the comments that the location sharing suggestion has been appearing for some time as part of the enhanced RCS abilities in Messages. So at this point, it's unclear if we're just seeing a new setting for something already available, or if there will be other suggested actions in the near future (possibly linked to Assistant). Watch this space.

Thanks: Henny Roggy, Nick Cipriani