Google Messages is rolling out a significant gesture and menu refresh that changes how users interact with messages. The most notable change is the new long-press menu, which now appears as a floating menu beside the selected message bubble instead of at the top of the screen. This menu includes quick shortcuts for Reply, Copy, Star, Delete, and more, with a blurred background effect. Users can also now drag selection handles to copy specific text snippets like codes or addresses, rather than copying the entire message.

Gesture changes are also being introduced. Swiping left across a chat reveals all message timestamps and RCS encryption status at once, while swiping right on a message bubble allows for instant replies. Tapping a message briefly displays timestamps and read receipts. These updates make it easier to scan conversation timing in long threads.

The rollout is linked to recent Google Messages builds, including 20260910_03_RC02, but it is server-side, so not all phones will receive the update simultaneously. The changes were spotted by a Reddit user and covered by Android Central.