Surely by now you’ve heard of the problems people have been having with their Gmail accounts. E-mails have been deleted, accounts have been disabled, and while Google has been hard at work trying to make everything right, it’s just another example of why moving your entire life to the cloud may not always be the best idea. → Read More
Now this is nice. If you’re a heavy Gmail user you’ve probably installed some kind of desktop notification system — be it a browser extension, a separate Gmail app like Mailplane and/or Growl. But now, hot on the heels of launching a dynamic unread count in browser tabs, Gmail is launching something that doesn’t require any downloads: built-in desktop notifications.
A small banner on Gmail… → Read More
I have a confession to make: I’m completely and utterly addicted to browser tabs. It’s a sickness. I might have 15 or 20 or more open in each window at any given time. That’s why I love Chrome. The ability to pin tabs is a life-saver by way of being a space-saver. But there’s always been one big downside.
When you pin a tab in Chrome, all you see is the favion. That means you lose the title of… → Read More
Hmm … Maybe RSS isn’t dead after all? After the replacement of the Google Reader link in Gmail with a link to Google Photos caused a user revolt on Friday, Google has vowed to bring the link back and tells TechCrunch its removal was accidental.
And while Google is uncertain as to exactly when the highly dramaticized link will be back, the Gmail team is working hard to fix it and is targeting… → Read More
More proof that RSS is on its way out, and the apocalypse is nigh: Google has seemingly replaced the top link to its RSS reader product, Google Reader, with a link to ‘Photos’ (Picasa) at the top of the Gmail web interface. To be clear, the link is still there, it’s just hidden behind the ‘More ▼’ link now.
Boy, that place has really started falling apart since Larry Page took over as CEO. → Read More
I own an iPhone. I live in San Francisco. As such, it’s basically a total crapshoot as to whether or not I’ll be able to make a phone call in the city. Skype had always been a pretty good back-up solution, but an even better one came a few months ago: Gmail Calling. And now Google has just extended the free period of the feature through 2011. Yes, through next year.
Gmail Calling is great because… → Read More
<Insert standard quip about Inbox Overload here.> I know, right? We all suffer from it. But what if you could get someone else to answer all your email? Well, if you can find such a person, Gmail has a new feature to let you grant them access to your account.
Yes, Gmail now supports full email delegation. By way of a new feature in settings, you can grant another Google account holder… → Read More
As if they weren’t busy enough releasing the Chrome Web Store, the Chrome OS test drive, and inadvertently letting the first Google +1 image leak, Google had one more trick up their sleeve today: the new Google Groups.
Technically, Google is just previewing the new Google Groups user interface. “The new Google Groups user interface represents the first in a series of updates to Google Groups,”… → Read More
Back in August, when Google launched Priority Inbox for Gmail, we praised it. And rightfully so. It took many of our nightmare inboxes and turned them into dreams. Well, okay, let’s not get crazy. But it did make them more manageable. And now Google has so stats to share to prove it.
When looking at the median numbers, Google has found that Gmail Priority Inbox users spend 43 percent more time… → Read More
Back in August, Gmail launched what is perhaps my favorite new feature ever: integration with Google Voice, which lets you make and receive calls directly from your computer.
Earlier this month, there were some initial reports that Google had improved on this feature with a nifty addition: the ability to record inbound Google Voice calls directly from Gmail. Now it looks like Google is rolling… → Read More
In some impeccably bad timing, we’re hearing reports that both Gmail and Google Apps mail websites are down as well as Google Calendar, just hours after Mark Zuckerberg announced Facebook’s messaging product. → Read More
Today during the unveiling of their “modern messaging system“, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg had quite a bit to say about the rumored death of email with the coming of their product. “This is not an email killer. This is a messaging experience that includes email as one part of it,” Zuckerberg said.
Of course, he then went on to say that if in the future, Facebook’s system fundamentally alters the… → Read More
Email has taken over our lives, and most of us hate it. But a new generation of email apps are changing how we interact with the inbox, and on Monday Facebook might even join the party. The inbox of the future is going to look a lot more like Facebook than the one you’re using today—but it’s also going to do a lot more. Thanks to these apps, you’ll learn to love your email again.
Here are four… → Read More
Yesterday, we posted about horrible latency issues many Gmail users have been experiencing over the past couple of weeks. When I reached out to Google about the issue a few days ago, they told me that they weren’t aware of anything wrong, but would look into it. Well, those of us who noticed it aren’t crazy. Sure enough, there was an issue, and Google says they have now fixed it.
Google reached… → Read More
Something is rotten in the state of Gmail. At least for some of us.
I thought it was maybe just me when I tweeted a couple days ago about awful Gmail performance recently. But it’s not just me. Dozens of people responded to me about that tweet. I tweeted about it again earlier today and dozens of other people responded. Some quick Twitter searches reveals many others noticing the same thing… → Read More
I have fond memories of the old days of dial-up AOL (and no, not just because they’ve acquired us now). I remember thinking how stalkerishly awesome it was that I could see if another AOL user had read the email I had sent them, if they hadn’t replied yet. Then the Internet had to come along and ruin everything. But wait, a nifty startup just popped onto my radar which brings that functionality to… → Read More
For the longest time, all I’ve wanted is a solid native Mac client for Gmail that supports starring of messages. Sure, there have been some out there, but they’ve all been lacking. Today, I may have finally found a good one.
Sparrow is a super-simple Mac client for Gmail. If you’ve used Tweetie for Mac (which is now owned by Twitter, but development is more or less frozen), you’ll feel right at… → Read More
Threaded emails in Gmail is a controversial subject. Some say that the automation of drawing emails together within Gmail saves them the time of figuring out which emails are connected. Others find the feature complicated. What it comes down to is either you love the way Gmail clusters conversations together, or you hate it. Today, Gmail is giving people the option to turn on threaded… → Read More
Curious what Google’s Gmail Priority Inbox means for those of us who use an IMAP or POP client like Mac Mail or the Mail function on an iPhone? Well as of yet the feature is not fully enabled on either IMAP or POP-compatible third party or mobile clients, leaving a large percentage of people who hate viewing email their email on a standard web browser out in the cold.
If you try to use the… → Read More
It’s hard to remember a product I’ve become so dependent on quicker than Gmail’s new Priority Inbox. I’m so addicted, that the few times I’ve accidentally clicked on the old “regular” Inbox view in the past week have really annoyed me. So much so that I actually moved that view into my “more” drop down (you can drag any sidebar item in there). And now I have good news: you can all share in this… → Read More
Editor’s note: Guest author Adam Rifkin is a Silicon Valley veteran who organizes a networking group for entrepreneurial engineers called 106 Miles. In this post he argues that Gmail is perhaps not the best vessel for Google’s social ambitions.
Last week was marred for me by a temporary but super-painful Gmail failure, and the software’s behavior points to why a “more social” Gmail would be a … → Read More
Hopefully you’re reading this as you’re waking up with access to Gmail Priority Inbox. Jason already posted his review/overview last night, so I figured I’d just talk a bit about how I’ve been using it for the past several days since Google turned it on for me to test out on my account. My opinion of it is in-line with Jason’s — once you fine-tune it, it’s game-changingly awesome. There is simply… → Read More
In May 2009, I wrote a post speculating about something called “Magic Inbox.” What was so special about it? It was a reference found in the code of Gmail by the blog Google Operating System, and appeared to point to a new Gmail feature that would sort your email with the help of your social connections. Many of us wondered if such a feature would be launching soon. But that never happened. Well… → Read More
Email overload has finally met its match. Tomorrow, Gmail is rolling out a new feature called Priority Inbox that is going to be a Godsend for those of you who dread opening your email. In short, Google has built a system that figures out which of your messages are important, and presents them at the top of the screen so you don’t miss them. The rest of your messages are still there, but you… → Read More
Google doesn’t have a native app for Gmail on the iPhone. I know, it sucks. Thankfully, their mobile Safari-optimized version is pretty damn good. But it’s not perfect. And they’re working to make it better.
This morning, I loaded up the mobile version of the site on my iPhone as was greeted by a shiny new version. The entire look and feel has been mildly revamped: everything is a slightly darker… → Read More
I’d wager that you’d be hard-pressed to find an iPhone user that doesn’t use Gmail on the device. And yet, it’s an awkward relationship. Why? Because Gmail run through the iPhone’s native mail client is a crippled experience. Set aside for a second that you cannot star anything (well, aside from moving an email to the “Starred” folder, which is ridiculous), more importantly, there is no push… → Read More
While Google is testing search results that update as you type on its own, startup CloudMagic is bringing that functionality to Gmail and Google Apps – and other cloud-based services in the near future – by means of a Firefox and Chrome browser extension.
Installing the extension results in an extra search box in your Gmail interface that allows you to rapidly search for anything in your inbox… → Read More
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