Google Chat receives major overhaul with new features, including Smart Compose and Message Editing

Google Chat has recently undergone a major overhaul with a range of new features. One of the most notable is Smart Compose for Chat, which functions similarly to how it works on Google Docs and Gmail, providing users with contextually-aware recommendations to help them craft responses quickly and accurately, while also reducing spelling and grammatical errors.

The messaging app now also allows users to edit or delete messages in individual and group chats, pretty much like WhatsApp started allowing recently, or like Telegram has been doing for ages. They can also quote messages for improved clarity in responses, and read receipts are now available in group chats, allowing users to see who has viewed their messages.

The update also includes some minor but welcome improvements, such as the ability to hyperlink text, so users can add links to specific words or sentences, as well as the option to hide inactive conversations, with direct messages and dormant spaces older than seven days being automatically hidden.

The addition of AI-powered features are welcomed, but it is worth noting that many of the other features have been available in other services for a long time. If you are interested in options more focused on privacy, you might be better off with something like Signal or Mattermost if you are looking for something more robust for teams.