Google shows off updated Gmail layout, iOS app update to come soon

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
Google on Wednesday announced a sizable reworking of the interface behind its Gmail web client, one that introduces a new tabbed inbox interface that will soon make its way from the web to iPads and iPhones.



The major change in the new-look Gmail is the much larger focus on sorting mail. The webmail client now organizes mail in up to five tabs. One tab handles emails from friends, family members, and other non-sortable communications, while other tabs are reserved for social network communications, notifications, offers, and forum content.

The redesign may be an outgrowth of Google's acquisition of Sparrow, an Apple-centric developer that had a popular email client for both the iPhone and the Mac platform. Google brought the Sparrow team into the fold last year but didn't specify exactly what part of the Gmail experience they would be working on.

The new features should arrive on the iOS and Android versions of the Gmail app in the coming weeks, according to the Official Gmail Blog.

The search giant will be gradually rolling out the Gmail update in the near future. Users will have the option to return to the old Gmail interface should the new one prove unsatisfactory.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 14


    Isn't that the whole point of folders? So we now we have folders and tabs in the folders? Seems pointless.

  • Reply 2 of 14
    jobsisgodjobsisgod Posts: 31member
    Who uses Gmail? Scanning my emails so they can advertise to me and Jobs knows what else they're doing with the info. I'll pass.
  • Reply 3 of 14
    jlanddjlandd Posts: 873member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by jobsisgod View Post



    Who uses Gmail? Scanning my emails so they can advertise to me and Jobs knows what else they're doing with the info. I'll pass.


     


    Sadly, that's what Yahoo, OutLook, etc of that kind all do as well.  Reading the privacy statement on my (forcibly) upgraded Verizon/Yahoo email account was an eye opener.  

  • Reply 4 of 14
    cpsrocpsro Posts: 3,192member


    whatever

  • Reply 5 of 14
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    Isn't that the whole point of folders? So we now we have folders and tabs in the folders? Seems pointless.

    Yes, that's what they essentially are doing, but these are acting like Smart Folders. This is a nice step for the average user. Apple et al. have had Smart Folders for a long time but you do have to set them up which can be daunting for many users. This implementation seems smarter as it's 1) done on the server, not by an individual app, and 2) has automatic setup that will likely cover most user's needs out of the box.

    I've been using Smart Folders for years but after watching this video I now have some more ideas for how to set them up even more effectively on my Mac. I hope Apple follows suit, but first I'd like to see a decent set server-side Rules implemented.
  • Reply 6 of 14
    pendergastpendergast Posts: 1,358member
    It's a good UI. As Soli posted, the functionality is nothing knew, but it's still "new", or reinvented.

    Seems more practical than strictly folders. This won't replace folders, but makes a few primary "no-brainer" folders easier to get to.
  • Reply 7 of 14
    blond37blond37 Posts: 18member
    i miss the sparrow.. it was a good app
  • Reply 8 of 14
    philboogiephilboogie Posts: 7,675member
    That is one fugly phone.
  • Reply 9 of 14
    rot'napplerot'napple Posts: 1,839member
    Isn't most of that crap mail coming from Google gold mining your data of web activity to spam you and now they modify G-Mail to properly place that shhstuff?!

    On a side note, nice use of music to message, Wait Mr. Postman to Goggle's New G-Mail, though...
  • Reply 10 of 14
    darkpawdarkpaw Posts: 212member


    Unimpressed. There was a time when software updates meant new features, big changes, and performance improvements. Now, all we get is a few new tabs in a web page?

  • Reply 11 of 14
    yensid98yensid98 Posts: 311member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by jlandd View Post


     


    Sadly, that's what Yahoo, OutLook, etc of that kind all do as well.  Reading the privacy statement on my (forcibly) upgraded Verizon/Yahoo email account was an eye opener.  



     


    That is why I have never used one of those "free" email services.  I've always paid for Apple to host my email. Now that iCloud is free I do still use it (no ads, no selling of personal information) but I'm worried that Apple may begin acting like the other "free" services in time.  If that ever happens, I'll switch to a paid service.  My email is not something I want big corporations looking trough to toss adds my way.

  • Reply 12 of 14
    wakefinancewakefinance Posts: 855member
    yensid98 wrote: »
    That is why I have never used one of those "free" email services.  I've always paid for Apple to host my email. Now that iCloud is free I do still use it (no ads, no selling of personal information) but I'm worried that Apple may begin acting like the other "free" services in time.  If that ever happens, I'll switch to a paid service.  My email is not something I want big corporations looking trough to toss adds my way.

    You realize nobody actually looks at it right?
  • Reply 13 of 14
    bigpicsbigpics Posts: 1,397member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by yensid98 View Post



    That is why I have never used one of those "free" email services.  I've always paid for Apple to host my email. Now that iCloud is free I do still use it (no ads, no selling of personal information) but I'm worried that Apple may begin acting like the other "free" services in time.  If that ever happens, I'll switch to a paid service.  My email is not something I want big corporations looking trough to toss adds my way.



     


    Quote:


    Originally Posted by wakefinance View Post





    You realize nobody actually looks at it right?




    Target away, adholes, I've developed blinders. Used to have an extension to do that. Now my brain does it. 


     


    Meanwhile, "privacy" on the web is an ever-thinner illusion.  NSA has a facility just opening that scans EVERYTHING on both the public and deep webs - and stores it all.  Supposedly they can only look - within some policy guidelines in a manual somewhere - at things that algorithms flag as "matters of national security" - but that's just one example. 



    And if anyone wants me, there's already enough electronic tracks that could be conflated into something I'm sure, so I'm just happy for all the free cloud gigabytes, free local phone number and never losing a message ever.


     


    Not that I don't have gripes with both gMail and Google, and plenty with the now Outlook branded Hotmail, but hey, never have to worry about getting access to all my mail ever anytime I have a net connection, and never have to configure anything for that to "just work."  On the whole, I'll take it.



    As for the tabs - the notification dealies aren't a bad add, but I already segregate all the stuff into separate email accounts.  Gmail's for personal (95% of the conversations that are actually muti-threaded - which is still my mainstay Gmail feature, and I use Hotmail accounts for 1. my business, 2. my personal financial and shopping site accounts, 3. the sites I follow, e.g., news, tech news and other vertical categories and 4. My art activities. If I hadn't needed to do this to avoid a complicated labeling system, then this might be useful for me.



    PS: As for whoever said nobody uses gmail, get a grip.

  • Reply 14 of 14
    cgs268cgs268 Posts: 55member
    Pointless... Over complicated... Unnecessary ...
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