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Door staff@engadget.com (Max Miller) - 07 Nov 2026
I always put off messages, either because I'm busy or because I don't have the mental bandwidth to deal with them at a particular moment. I tell myself I'm waiting to give the other person my undivided attention, rationalizing my rudeness as politeness. But at least I'm not the only one. If I were, Google would not have implemented the annoying Nudges feature, which tells you how long it's been since you replied and suggests you follow up.
I am no more likely to see a nudge at an opportune time to reply than when the message was originally sent. It's just more clutter on a smartphone that already bombards me with seemingly endless notifications no matter how many I disable. On top of that, my beleaguered conscience is already nudging me with far more guilt than Google could ever hope to engender.
The other thing Nudges does is remind you of people's birthdays. This is considerably less annoying, and has actually helped me to remember a birthday or two. Thankfully, you can choose to turn off message reminder nudges without turning off birthday reminder nudges.
To turn off Nudges, go to Messages settings by tapping your profile picture at the top of your main list of messages, and tap Settings > Suggestions & Actions > Nudges. Toggle off reply and birthday reminders on the next screen according to your preferences.
I am no more likely to see a nudge at an opportune time to reply than when the message was originally sent. It's just more clutter on a smartphone that already bombards me with seemingly endless notifications no matter how many I disable. On top of that, my beleaguered conscience is already nudging me with far more guilt than Google could ever hope to engender.
The other thing Nudges does is remind you of people's birthdays. This is considerably less annoying, and has actually helped me to remember a birthday or two. Thankfully, you can choose to turn off message reminder nudges without turning off birthday reminder nudges.
To turn off Nudges, go to Messages settings by tapping your profile picture at the top of your main list of messages, and tap Settings > Suggestions & Actions > Nudges. Toggle off reply and birthday reminders on the next screen according to your preferences.