Gmail Get Its First Overhaul in Years as Google Aims for Microsoft Outlook
Google has unveiled a major redesign of Gmail, and it would be the first overhaul the mail client will receive since 2013. It was a drastic revamp that the company spent two years and untold millions to position it better against Microsoft Outlook.
Gmail is arguably the world's most popular webmail service, but Google is not one to rest on the fact as it aims for Microsoft's share of the market. The new Gmail is now more app-like than ever, with extra features like email snoozing, nudging and confidential mode to go with a cleaner design.
The update is on a global phased rollout schedule since Wednesday, April 25, according to The Verge. That means some clients may not get Gmail's shiny new look as of yet, with 1.4 billion accounts waiting their turn.
"This is an entire rewrite of our flagship, most-used product," said Jacob Bank, product manager lead for Gmail, as quoted by Reuters.
Google has expanded Gmail's inbox to be more than just a list of emails. Right in the inbox list, the new Gmail lets users archive, delete, mark or postpone an email for a later time with the new "Snooze" feature.
This contextual list could later include new features from Google Calendar, Tasks and Keep, as Google explained in their rundown of the new Gmail.
The old Gmail has a system for learning which messages and senders are important, and the new client expands on that with a new "Nudge" feature. Important messages will now have helpful reminders like "Received 3 days ago. Reply?" that show up on the side.
Another AI feature that Google has added is the "Smart Reply" feature, which shows a list of short, appropriate suggestions that users can simply click on to send out a quick reply to an email.
Google has also overhauled the Gmail mobile app, and now, it can remind users about important messages while keeping out the rest to keep interruptions to a minimum. Along those lines, the new Gmail app will now also start suggesting to users that they could just unsubscribe from the news feeds and offers that they may not have been reading.
Finally, there's a new confidential mode that lets users send special emails that cannot be forwarded, copied or printed. This could be especially useful for sending sensitive messages and attachments. There's also a feature to make the message expire and self-delete after a certain amount of time for even more control.
Google has also added improvements for the new Gmail aimed at business users. As emails are still a vulnerable point in an office network security, Google has redesigned the security warnings to be easier to understand and harder to ignore.
These and more are now rolling out to every one of Gmail's 4.1 billion users starting Wednesday, April 25.