Gmail

I/O 2021 introduced a flurry of productivity-oriented features to bring Workspace apps closer together. Gmail is now adding a convenient “Save to Google Photos” shortcut for consumers. 

At I/O 2021 on Tuesday, Google spent part of the keynote talking about privacy and security. It’s following that up with a prominent “We protect your privacy” message in Gmail and Google Photos.

Preventing “unintentional data loss” is a big concern for companies, and Gmail is now adding an “External” badge on email conversations that include recipients outside your Google Workspace organization.

Google is in the process of rolling out a new Gmail client online for free users that incorporates Chat and Rooms. As part of that, there were a number of small design tweaks, and the latest sees Gmail on the web get a new compose button.

At the start of last month, Google started to release new iOS versions of the YouTube family of applications following a long, unspecified pause. Gmail, Google Calendar, Docs, and other apps were updated today in a seeming return to normal for iPhone and iPad owners. 

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Google has been rapidly iterating on Meet, given the demand for enterprise video conferencing. The company also made Google Meet free for personal Gmail accounts, and is now extending the availability of longer calls to June 2021. 

Have difficulty copying and pasting email addresses when using Gmail on your Android device? Well, that looks like it will be a thing of the past as a recent change now makes it even easier to grab an address from the various fields when composing a new email.

Last week, we spotted how the Google Chat website was getting some tweaks and Hangouts-style chat windows. This redesign of Google Chat is now rolled out for free accounts and is interestingly directly part of Gmail.

The search bar in Gmail is already a powerful tool, especially when using the advanced filters, and will now show associated email aliases in results.

It appears as though Google is testing some tweaked icons within Gmail on desktop to more closely mimic the icons already seen on the Android and iOS apps.

Google suffered a massive hour-long outage yesterday morning. This afternoon, Gmail is seeing some widespread “Address not found” issues that prevent certain emails from being delivered.

Google is rolling out new features across Docs and other Workspace apps to increase interoperability with Word and the Microsoft Office suite. It comes as some teams might choose to use both sets of tools, while others still work with partners that don’t use cloud offerings.

With the launch of iOS 14 in September, Google’s key apps were updated to support the latest platform features. After adding default email app support, Gmail now has an iOS home screen widget. Google is also highlighting how Chrome on iPad supports opening multiple windows.

Earlier this year, Google announced that it would default to auto-deleting location and search data. Building on that, the company is introducing two settings to control “whether your data in Gmail, Meet and Chat can be used to offer ‘smart’ features in these and other Google products.”

Over the past few weeks, Google has been replacing the logos and icons of some of its most beloved services, and the public reaction has been… mixed. Some people don’t care, while others absolutely hate the new icons. If you fall into the latter group, here’s how to replace Google’s new icons for Gmail, Calendar, and other apps with the older, arguably better versions on Android, iPhone, and Chrome.