LinkedIn 'Intro' embeds contact profiles into incoming iOS Mail messages
Networking site LinkedIn on Wednesday unveiled a new iPhone-only service called Intro, which allows iOS users to receive email messages that include an embedded profile of the sender's LinkedIn information.
According to LinkedIn, Intro's embedded profile bar grants users easy access to a sender's information, including picture, company and position, which reportedly facilitates "more effective" responses. The bar is interactive, with a drop-down menu offering a deeper look at the users' LinkedIn profiles, as well as a button to quickly request a connection.
Because Apple does not allow third-party companies control of its Mail app, including plug-ins, developers have taken to creating standalone mail apps. Intro, however, is not an add-on, but instead an integrated service that attaches to a user's email account, thus allowing LinkedIn to insert the profile bar at the top of messages from other registered users.
When signing up for the service, users must grant LinkedIn access to their email account. As noted by TechHive, LinkedIn is leveraging technology created by startup Rapportive, which the company purchased last year.
In LinkedIn's implementation, messages are scanned, and if an email account match is found in the service's database, the corresponding information is inserted into the incoming email. To work, a user's email address must be registered with their LinkedIn account, and cannot be from a an organization (such as .org addresses). Messages must also be less than 128Kb to process.
Intro also requires users install a new profile in iOS that will allow functionality with the Mail app, allowing for user to create a new account not associated with Apple's defaults. The profile can be deleted if a user decides to stop using the service.
Currently, Intro supports iCloud, Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, AOL Mail and Google Apps.
LinkedIn's latest offering may be useful to some, but the implementation does raise security concerns. Most notably, a user's email correspondence must filter through two separate servers. Intro fetches messages from a main account, like iCloud, scans and attaches the appropriate LinkedIn data, then sends it to a user's iPhone.
The company notes in its Pledge of Privacy, however, that no information will be shared with outside parties and all private information will be kept confidential.
To take advantage of the free service, LinkedIn users can visit the dedicated Intro website to initiate the registration process.
According to LinkedIn, Intro's embedded profile bar grants users easy access to a sender's information, including picture, company and position, which reportedly facilitates "more effective" responses. The bar is interactive, with a drop-down menu offering a deeper look at the users' LinkedIn profiles, as well as a button to quickly request a connection.
Because Apple does not allow third-party companies control of its Mail app, including plug-ins, developers have taken to creating standalone mail apps. Intro, however, is not an add-on, but instead an integrated service that attaches to a user's email account, thus allowing LinkedIn to insert the profile bar at the top of messages from other registered users.
When signing up for the service, users must grant LinkedIn access to their email account. As noted by TechHive, LinkedIn is leveraging technology created by startup Rapportive, which the company purchased last year.
In LinkedIn's implementation, messages are scanned, and if an email account match is found in the service's database, the corresponding information is inserted into the incoming email. To work, a user's email address must be registered with their LinkedIn account, and cannot be from a an organization (such as .org addresses). Messages must also be less than 128Kb to process.
Intro also requires users install a new profile in iOS that will allow functionality with the Mail app, allowing for user to create a new account not associated with Apple's defaults. The profile can be deleted if a user decides to stop using the service.
Currently, Intro supports iCloud, Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, AOL Mail and Google Apps.
LinkedIn's latest offering may be useful to some, but the implementation does raise security concerns. Most notably, a user's email correspondence must filter through two separate servers. Intro fetches messages from a main account, like iCloud, scans and attaches the appropriate LinkedIn data, then sends it to a user's iPhone.
The company notes in its Pledge of Privacy, however, that no information will be shared with outside parties and all private information will be kept confidential.
To take advantage of the free service, LinkedIn users can visit the dedicated Intro website to initiate the registration process.
Comments
Ha, I agree and have been looking for a reason to dump this very seldom used App. i see no value what so ever .
I signed up for this and it works great using my iPhone for email. Will not work for Mail as mentioned in the above post.
Thanks for the useful information!
I'm seeing a lot of recruiters using it though. Within the past month, I got 3 requests to connect to discuss job postings, mostly from the HR agencies. I guess they are the only one who search for candidates now. In-house HR people are just too lazy to do that.
Zebra,
Since "Mail" is excluded from the list of email services in the first post, I'm assuming this is what you mean by "Will not work for Mail as mentioned in the above post". But then you go on to say "it works great using my iPhone for email". You don't use "Mail" on your iPhone?
Well I think you are correct on the first and the second two are the same. That said, countries rise in insurrection based on the reaction from them so I can't deny they have an impact on man kind, I am just not sure it is all good at all time. I'm happy with email and blogs like this one myself. But then I'm not trying to overthrow anyone
Will not grant access to my email.
In fact, thanks to scum like yatedo.com, I don't even have my LinkedIn profile visible any more. I'm so sick of this social media stuff that fails to do anything but stroke ego. Dating sites are useless for men, job seeking tools don't help in an economic depression, and actual social engagement is utterly lacking in all the rest. It's all just yet another way for big business to market to us anyway.
I really, really want to use LinkedIn but I can't fool myself from seeing it as anything other than a gimmicky niche social media platform. I check mine like maybe once a month, everything is still done with Facebook.
I hope you see the irony here, Facebook is simply a gimmicky social media platform as well. And one that constantly screws over its user base time and time again. The only thing it has going for it is that it has a very broad reach.
I'm curious how many people here are sick of Facebook but just don't see a simple, viable way to communicate with their friends easily.
How many of you actually trust Facebook to not misuse your personal data?
Real questions, I'm interested to know. Perhaps this would be better on its own thread, but I've never done that.
No. Will not grant access to my email.
In fact, thanks to scum like yatedo.com, I don't even have my LinkedIn profile visible any more. I'm so sick of this social media stuff that fails to do anything but stroke ego. Dating sites are useless for men, job seeking tools don't help in an economic depression, and actual social engagement is utterly lacking in all the rest. It's all just yet another way for big business to market to us anyway.
Good for you on the no-email-access. Frankly, I can't understand why anyone would ever give access to their email/password to a 3rd party company. It defies common sense to tie all these services together.
It really, really pisses me off when someone has my email address in their address book and then hands over the keys to other companies. Yes, LinkedIn was a particularly egregious example of this being misused. They spammed me based on that info from several acquaintances, and it went on for months.
I wish there was a way to give someone an email address that didn't allow it to be forwarded to others! Yes, there's a market opportunity, but I'm not sure how it could ever be implemented.