Google might make Messages easier to use with one hand

Phone screens seem to be always getting larger, and that makes one-handed usability of the latest flagships tricky. Many Google apps use hamburger menus near the top of the screen to grant access to key buttons and features. This becomes a problem when you’re trying to wield a modern Android phone with one hand, but Google appears to be simplifying things for at least one of its apps. Google Messages looks to be adding a new context menu that would let users access important features from anywhere in the chat.

Currently, the Google Messages app places crucial buttons at the very top of the screen, making them harder to reach. After long-pressing on a message, the copy and delete button appears in the chat’s header bar.

Other options, including forward, share, and view details, are also hidden behind a hamburger menu at the top of the screen. While it’s possible to select multiple messages, Material You theming can make it difficult to see which ones are selected. We’ve uncovered signs in Google Messages v20251020 beta that the company may be planning to swap this user interface for a new context menu.

We managed to activate the new user interface in Google Messages to give you an early look at the fresh context menu and select screen:

When the feature becomes available, it could streamline controls in the Google Messages chat view. The new interface calls up a context menu when you long-press a chat, and it appears right below the chat itself. Reactions still live directly above the chat, but the new menu slots in below it, offering Reply, Forward, Copy, Star, Delete, Select more, and Info buttons.

The context menu is dynamic, and can change based on the content in Google Messages being selected. For instance, a Save option would appear when selecting an image and an Edit button would appear below a message you’ve recently sent.

Aside from making these buttons easier to reach, the upcoming Google Messages user interface might make it clearer which chats are selected. When selecting multiple messages, a check mark will appear beside each one that is currently selected. You can tap the filled check mark or an empty circle to select or deselect a message. Here’s a preview of the new interface in action:

If and when these tweaks roll out publicly, the Google Messages app could be optimized for one-handed use. To view and access buttons at the bottom of your screen, users can simply scroll down and long-press a message to select and manage it. Keep an eye out for the new look in future versions of the Google Messages app.