Gmail

As classic Hangouts is set to go away for Workspace customers, Google continues to update Chat and Spaces with more capabilities. A small tweak sees Gmail for Android introduce new status bar icons that help differentiate notifications from Google Chat and Spaces.

As previewed in February, Google Docs on the web is getting a rather nifty template for drafting emails that features Gmail integration. This is part of Google’s @-menu and Smart Canvas push.

Following Gmail at the start of this year, Google Drive is the latest iOS app to get new work-focused widgets, while there are also updates for Translate and Chat on iOS in the coming weeks.

At the start of last week, Google began rolling out the “new view” redesign of Gmail on the web. It has now hit our accounts, and here’s a look at how it works, as well as other details we’ve found while using it this afternoon.

At the end of last month, Google officially detailed the “new integrated view” for Gmail on the web. This redesign is now rolling out for the first Gmail users, including those with personal Google Accounts.

Google+ shut down in April of 2020 as a social network for consumers, but the product was kept around for businesses that wanted an internal tool to communicate with employees in a post/stream-like manner. Citing low usage, Google is shutting down Currents and replacing it with Spaces in the new integrated Gmail/Chat.

After teasing last year, Google today finally detailed how the “new Gmail view” redesign is rolling out on the web over the coming weeks and months. 

Google is rolling out a trio of productivity updates to its iPhone and iPad productivity apps. Notably, Gmail will get a homescreen widget, while iOS Picture-in-Picture is now available for Google Meet.

Gmail for Android has hit a pretty huge milestone after surpassing the 10 billion download milestone on the Google Play Store.

Android 12 has been riddled with annoying little quirks and bugs, some of which came from the update’s radically different design on Pixel phones. This week, one of those bugs is finally being fixed, as Gmail is rolling out an update to fix the “undo” button on Android 12.

Back in September, Google previewed how Chat will let you make one-on-one Meet calls without having to use URLs. Similar to classic Hangouts, this feature is now rolling out in the version of Google Chat inside Gmail.

On Monday, Google made Workspace available “for everyone” with free, personal accounts able to turn on the integrated Gmail experience with Chat and Rooms — soon to be called Spaces. Alongside that, Google Workspace branding now appears on the Gmail web client.

As teased with the launch of Android 12 last month, Gmail is rolling out a new Material You widget that’s quite powerful. 

The integrated Gmail web experience that combines Chat, Spaces, and Meet is due for a navigation redesign. Until then, Google is rolling out a slew of updates to the compose UI on the web client.

The Gmail side panel today provides quick access to Calendar, Keep, and Tasks. Google is now bringing Contacts to the sidebar for Workspace and personal customers using Gmail. 

On Chromebooks, you can access most Google services with either the website or the Android app. Google today updated Gmail for Android on Chrome OS with the latest Material You redesign, but more importantly the latest app icon.

Besides appearing in the top-right corner of every Google app, your avatar is most prominently used for Gmail. A new “Google Illustrations” tool lets you find and build a custom profile picture.

Last week, Google’s new design language started widely rolling out to Gmail for Android in some countries. As part of that launch, Google notably shrunk down the Material You bottom bar in Gmail.

The most full-featured Gmail experience is still found on the web, but the mobile apps continue to pick up more and more capabilities. Gmail for Android is now gaining “improved search” through a set of filters.