Earlier this week, Google launched Inbox, a new email management app that’s currently available on an invite-only basis. Almost reminiscent of when Mountain View launched Gmail as a beta product in the spring of 2004, the now social media-driven internet worked itself into a frenzy of tweets, +1s and likes from people vying to get hold of an invitation.
If you’re among the first wave of Inbox users, and you’ve got the software installed on your smartphone and tablet, you’ll probably want to swing by the Chrome Web Store and grab Google’s new web app.
This is plain crazy. An invite for Google’s reinvented email application, Inbox, is now going for more than $150 on eBay. We all saw it coming, but I don’t think anyone expected the internet to be this desperate to get access to the app a few weeks—or maybe even days—early. This is somewhat in line with what we’ve seen in the past, though, with some of the best examples being other services that Google slowly rolled out—namely Google+ and the original Gmail.
Google this afternoon announced Inbox for Gmail, its all-new emailing solution that is intended to coexist with the regular Gmail platform. Inbox for Gmail is available on an invite only basis for Android, iOS and Chrome. I am fortunate enough to have received an invite to Inbox for Gmail, and I have been giving the iPhone app a rundown to see how it works. For the most part, Inbox is everything that you know and love about Gmail in a sleeker package.
Today, Google unveiled a new email solution called Inbox, which looks like a marriage between Gmail and Google Now. Currently available by invitation only, this new app takes bits from your email like purchase invoices and bank statements and groups them together for fast access. Like Google Now, Inbox adapts to the way you operate, highlighting key pieces of emails like flight plans, photos, documents and upcoming event information.
As expected, Google just started rolling out its brand new inbox to iOS users after first introducing us to the new category-based design last week. While its not a tabbed design like on the desktop, much like the Android app that just started rolling out iOS users can now access the new feature that groups emails into separate inboxes by selecting categories from the app’s side navigation bar.
Meet the new inbox: If you’ve enabled the new inbox, your mail is now grouped into categories so that you can see what’s new at a glance and decide which emails you want to read when. Primary mail is shown first and it’s easy to access and keep track of email in other categories by opening the menu. Configure this feature by going to Gmail.com on your computer.
Today’s Gmail update also brings improved notifications allowing you to customize what emails you receive notifications for:
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Google is beginning to roll out a new feature in Gmail today that will allow users to quickly and easily create or add an event to Google Calendar without ever leaving their inbox. Once the feature has been enabled, users will be able to click the date and time within emails to add or create an Google Calendar entry using the data from the email (as pictured above). The calendar entry can be edited before added and will also automatically include a link back to the original email for reference:
When you click on one of these underlined dates, you’ll be able to preview your schedule for the day and change the title, date or time of the event. Clicking “Add to Calendar” will do exactly that — add the event to your calendar, and for extra convenience, the calendar event will include a link back to the original email.
Keep an eye out for the new feature rolling out to everyone using the English (US) language setting over the next week.
We told you in October that Google began to test a redesigned compose and reply window in Gmail for a number of users. Google was previously allowing users to opt in and out of using the new feature that lets users compose and reply to multiple messages at once while still navigating the inbox. The company announced today that it is beginning to roll out the feature as the default for all users:
In addition to telling us what you love about the new compose experience (like how much easier it is to multitask!) you’ve also been sending us helpful suggestions for what features you’d like to see added. As a result of your input, we’re now ready to introduce the new compose experience as the default for everyone. We’re looking forward to hearing what you think!
The new compose experience will be available as default to all users in the next few days. Google didn’t’ specify whether users will still be able to switch back to the old compose style.
Google+ always allowed you to receive notification emails for specific activity from the network, such as comments on your posts and when another user mentions or shares with you. Today, Google is making the experience even better for Gmail users by making those notification emails interactive. In Gmail, you can now “view, comment on, and +1 posts” directly from within your inbox. Google noted, “Comments appear in the Google+ stream in real-time, and responses from others instantly appear in Gmail, as part of the notification message.”
Google explained replying to the notification emails is now possible from your mobile device through a “Reply to this email” prompt (pictured, right):
Tap reply, send your comment, and we’ll automatically add it to the ongoing Google+ conversation. Even if you don’t use Gmail, you can still reply by email from many different services.
Google will make these new features available to Gmail/Google+ users over the coming week, and you can always manage your Google+ notifications in settings here.
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If you ever happen to have no messages in your Gmail inbox, you might notice Google’s subtle way of promoting Google Reader with the small ad for Google Reader (below). Now, Google has removed the “Try Google Reader” link and replaced it with a new message promoting Google+ (via Google Operating System blog). The message now reads, “No new mail! See what people are talking about on Google+” (pictured above). Within the new message is a link to the “What’s Hot” stream of Google+.
With the launch Google+, and its incredible growth (about 750,000 new users a day), many warned the growth was attributable to Google’s ability to pull in Google+ users. So, what happens when it runs out of Gmail users to bring in? Google may have already thought that through with a recent update to the Google account creation process requiring users to both create a Gmail account and automatically create a profile and Google+ account. In other words, not only is the company pulling in Gmail users, but also anyone that wants or needs a Google account for other services.
If you have ever used Gmail on a tablet, you’ve probably appreciated the improvements made to the mobile UI and missed them when forced to use Gmail from your desktop browser. Luckily, Google just introduced a new preview pane feature for Gmail that allows you to quickly view snippets of messages, much like the mobile interface currently accessible on tablets (which, yes, dates from Outlook 2003 – thanks commenters).
You can enable the feature by turning it on from the Labs tab in your Gmail settings and switching between views via a new toggle button in the upper right corner of your inbox.
You can also move the preview pane below your message list if you have limited screen real
estate.
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