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Gmail AI Can Now Write Emails for You on Your Phone: How It Works

Tired of writing boring emails? Google’s new Help Me Write feature has you covered.

Email can be a lot of fun if you’re corresponding with an old friend or a pen pal halfway around the world. It’s less fun when you’re filing multiple insurance claims or sending hundreds of thank you notes. 

Announced at the Google I/O event in May, a new feature from Gmail called Help Me Write can draft those boring emails for you. Powered by the company’s proprietary AI, the new Google service can compose automated messages in Gmail, text messages and other Google apps. Starting today, the feature is now available for Gmail on iPhones, iPads and Android devices.

With 1.8 billion active users of Gmail at the last count, Help Me Write is poised to have a major impact on the way that the world communicates via email. Learn more about how Help Me Write works and how you might use it.

For more on Google I/O, learn all about the foldable Pixel phone and the biggest new features announced for Android.

How does Help Me Write work in Gmail?

The new Help Me Write feature for generative AI email creation in Gmail expands on the «Smart Compose» feature that Google introduced in 2018, as well as the «Smart Reply» feature added in 2017.

Whereas Smart Reply offers basic automated replies, and Smart Compose provides suggestions as you type, Help Me Write goes well beyond, creating a full email from a basic prompt. A «refine» button can shorten the text, elaborate or make the email more formal. You can then further edit the email manually or send it as is.

In his demo at Google I/O, Pichai used Help Me Write to draft an email asking for a full refund from an airline for a canceled flight. Help Me Write created an email from scratch using information gleaned from the airline’s emailed offer of a voucher.

How can I start using Help Me Write in Gmail?

screenshot of signup process for Google Workspace screenshot of signup process for Google Workspace

Google/Screenshot by CNET

Help Me Write is part of Google’s Workspace Labs, and you’ll need to join the program if you want to use AI to compose text in Gmail or Google Docs. Visit labs.withgoogle.com, scroll down to the section marked «Unlock new ways of working with AI» and click the blue «Join waitlist» button to sign up. (We were able to join Workspace Labs from a personal Google account today, immediately, without any wait.)

It’s worth noting that Google’s privacy policy for Workspace Labs is different to its standard Gmail privacy policy. The company takes pains to warn users, «Please do not include sensitive, confidential, or personal information that can be used to identify you or others in your interactions with Workspace Labs features.» Your Workspace Labs data may be reviewed by humans and stored by the company for four years.

a screenshot of Google's Help Me Write button in web-based Gmail a screenshot of Google's Help Me Write button in web-based Gmail

The Help Me Write button shows up next to the Send button in web-based Gmail.

Google/Screenshot by CNET

Once you’re into Workspace Labs, a new Help Me Write icon — a pencil with a star above it — should show up whenever you draft a new email in Gmail or create a new document in Google Docs. In web-based Gmail, the icon appears to the right of the «Send» button. On your iPhone or Android device, it will show up at the bottom of the email.

Clicking on the Help Me Write button in Gmail will open up a prompt window, where you can describe what you want the AI to write. Provided examples include «A glowing review for a team member» and «Wish my friend a speedy recovery in the hospital.»

After you enter a prompt and click «Create,» Help Me Write will generate your text and provide you the options of recreating the text or refining it to make it more formal, more elaborate or shorter. Once you’re satisfied with the text, hit «Insert» to add it to your email, which you can then edit as you like.

two screenshots showing Gmail's Help Me Write feature composing a letter to a mother-in-law about attending her granddaughter's birthday party two screenshots showing Gmail's Help Me Write feature composing a letter to a mother-in-law about attending her granddaughter's birthday party

Gmail’s Help Me Write feature on iPhone shows up as a button at the bottom of new emails.

Google/Screenshots by CNET

For more, here’s what to know about Google’s Bard AI and the company’s AI-powered search engine.

Technologies

No, the Viral iPhone Fold Video Isn’t Real. How We Know It’s Fake

Whether AI or clever 3D-printed mock-up, that’s not a real foldable iPhone going around the internet.

I know we’re all excited for the upcoming iPhone Fold, but be wary of fake leaks — like the supposed unboxing video that’s been making the rounds online.

Upcoming phones will always be the subject of rumors and leaks, and no device is more hyped than the foldable that Apple has purportedly been working on for years. Lots of that early info points toward a release later this year during the usual September iPhone release window, which makes the lead-up fertile territory for falsified leaks like the aforementioned video. 

Unfortunately, with the advance of generative AI tools that fabricate videos based on text prompts and other inputs, it’s easier than ever to fake your way to internet fame. Nowadays, videos churned out by gen AI tools have the correct number of fingers on hands, better lighting and far fewer indicators that they’re inauthentic. 

But there are still some tells that you’re not seeing the real deal — both in the video and when it’s released.

First, let’s dissect the video. A person in a gray long-sleeved shirt or sweatshirt rotates a box labeled «iPhone Fold» and pulls it open. On the first watch, a lot of signature Apple elements are present. The product is tucked inside snug packaging and presented screen-side-out to the opener, and there’s both a charging cord and supplementary materials tucked underneath. It all looks authentic enough — at least believably not generated by AI. 

But AI or not, there are a few details that are strong evidence that this isn’t an actual Apple device. When opening the package, there’s a peel-off protector for the inner screen, not the outer. The multicolored insert claims the device is IP68 dust- and water-resistant, which is rare for foldables. Only the Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold and Honor Magic V6, among a handful of others, have water-resistant ratings.

The device itself is suspect, and if not AI-generated, it’s likely 3D-printed. The cream-colored back makes an odd sound when scratched (unlike what glass or ceramic sounds like), and the device’s halves don’t fold neatly against each other — another thing that the design-obsessed Apple likely wouldn’t allow. What’s more, when it’s fully unfolded, the back of the supposed foldable has a big gap between both halves over the hinge, which other phone makers have solved in their flexible-screen devices.

There’s skepticism around its design, too. Yes, Apple’s patents point toward a wider style of foldables similar to the first Google Pixel Fold, but the supposed iPhone Fold in the video is so squat in its dimensions that its internal screen would make for bizarre dimensions that aren’t tall enough to fit the aspect ratio of, say, an iPad

iPhone Fold may or may not be the final name of the device, as rumors have disagreed for years on its product designation, with the most recent suggesting it could be deemed the iPhone Ultra. 

Since we don’t see it turn on, there’s no indication of how its software is laid out — which form of iOS or even iPadOS it might use. That makes this short, squat design even more suspect.

And then there are the factors outside of the video. Apple leaks happen, but we’ve only had a few pre-release leaks like CAD files, official renders or cases that agree on a design — and yet, this is supposedly the iPhone Fold’s final form, which looks somewhat but not completely like a recent CAD render

To the video’s credit, taking this many words to suspect and disprove its authenticity is a credit to its plausibility. There’s a lot of commitment to Apple staples, from product packaging to theorizing the final design of the foldable itself. If nothing else, it’s a functional guess at what the supposed iPhone Fold might look like, and how it might look coming out of the box. 

We’ll know in September at the earliest if Apple chooses to release its foldable in that window — and I’m sure we’ll see plenty of other leaks and rumors on the device before then.

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Technologies

How to Use the New Blood Pressure Tool on Your Samsung Galaxy Watch

You’ll need additional hardware to use the blood pressure monitoring tool on your Samsung Galaxy smartwatch.

After years of regional limits, Samsung is finally unlocking blood pressure monitoring for Galaxy Watch users in the U.S. Starting Tuesday, the feature is rolling out to the current Galaxy Watch 8 series as well as older models dating back to the Galaxy Watch 4. It’s a major addition for anyone tracking cardiovascular trends, but you shouldn’t expect a simple «plug and play» experience.

For starters, you’ll need to own (or buy) a traditional upper-arm blood pressure cuff to calibrate the feature on the smartwatch. And you’ll have to download a separate app, the Samsung Health Monitor app, on your smartphone. Then you’ll have to recalibrate with the cuff every 28 days to ensure accurate readings.

In other words, the blood pressure monitor requires a blood pressure monitor to function.

Samsung first introduced blood pressure monitoring on its watches in 2020, gradually rolling it out in other countries, but regulatory holdups kept it from being usable in the US. 

Unlike Samsung’s ECG and sleep apnea detection features (both FDA-cleared), the blood pressure feature has not received FDA clearance and is intended for wellness purposes only. This means it is not a diagnostic tool and should not be used to identify or treat high blood pressure. Readings are also on-demand only, so you have to manually take them through the watch rather than having it happen automatically in the background. 

That last part may change. Samsung’s announcement also noted that passive blood pressure trend monitoring is coming later this year.

Apple debuted FDA-cleared hypertension alerts on newer Apple Watch models in September 2025, which passively monitor and alert owners when it detects signs of high blood pressure. Oura and other wearable companies are working toward similar features through long-term data trends, though true on-demand blood pressure readings remain out of reach for most mainstream consumer smartwatches.

The blood pressure feature is compatible with Galaxy Watch 4 and will only work on watches paired with a Samsung Galaxy phone running Android 12 or higher. It will not be available on other Android phones or on Samsung’s Galaxy Fit tracker. And even if you check all those boxes, you might not get it right away. Samsung says it’s rolling out the feature in phases.

If you do have access (and a cuff handy), setup is fairly straightforward. Once your watch is connected to your phone, download the Samsung Health Monitor app, enable blood pressure tracking and follow the calibration steps while using your upper-arm cuff. Just know you’ll need that cuff nearby anytime you want to keep your readings accurate.

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Technologies

Google Upgrades Maps Features With More Gemini and Faster Photo Uploads

Google Maps strengthens its crowdsourcing efforts for its 500 million contributors.

Google announced three new features for Maps on Tuesday that should streamline sharing your experiences. Despite being a strong maps application itself, Google relies on everyday users to contribute their reviews, photos and videos so others doing research can make more informed decisions about places they plan to visit. With the new updates to Google Maps, you can access your photos faster to contribute to information about places you’ve been. You can also choose to have Google’s AI model, Gemini, caption your photos and more quickly check the contributions you’ve made in the past.

New photo and video recommendations

It’s not hard to share photos or videos for a location on Google Maps, but the app will now offer photo and video suggestions from your saved images — if you give it permission to do so. The new feature will appear on the Contribute tab at the bottom of the maps app. When scrolling through the view, you’ll see photo and video recommendations or the option to upload other photos. 

How the specific photo and video recommendations are determined isn’t clear, but the new feature will likely use a photo’s geolocation if that setting is enabled in your camera’s settings. 

A Google representative didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. 

This feature is now available globally on Android and will expand to iOS in the coming months. 

Gemini will auto-caption your photos

Google’s giving your photos some Gemini power by automatically analyzing and captioning them once you’ve selected them to share. This could be helpful in situations where you have selected several photos you don’t care to caption.

If you don’t like what Gemini comes up with, you can edit or remove the caption completely before publishing your photos to Maps. 

Gemini captions are available in English on iOS and will expand to other languages globally and Android in the future. 

New ways to view your contributions

You can now show off your prior contributions to Google’s Local Guide community program.

When you contribute, you gain points, and the more you contribute, the more you can level up as a Local Guide. All your points and badges are now prominently displayed on your profile. Google’s also adding gold profiles for high-level contributors, so you know you’re reading reviews from experienced users. 

The new contributor updates are rolling out now on Android, iOS and desktop.

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