Introducing the Gmail app for iPhone iPad and iPod touch

(Cross posted on the Official Gmail Blog and Google Enterprise Blog)

Posted by Matthew Izatt, Product Manager

Waiting. Walking. Watching TV. Working out. Winding down. Waking up. We check email pretty much everywhere these days. And when we do, we want easy access to our important messages so we can respond quickly and get back to life -- or slinging birds at thieving green pigs.

With that in mind, we’ve created a new Gmail app for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. We’ve combined your favorite features from the Gmail mobile web app and iOS into one app so you can be more productive on the go. It’s designed to be fast, efficient and take full advantage of the touchscreen and notification capabilities of your device. And it’s one more reason to switch to Gmail.

Speed
We want to give you the information you need quickly, with minimal effort and distraction. So we’ve included some time-saving features:

• Get alerted to new messages with push notifications and sounds
• Find an email in seconds with search across your entire inbox
• Autocomplete email addresses from your Gmail contacts or select from your device’s address book
• Upload photos with a click using the new attachment button in compose view
• On iPad, navigate your inbox and read your mail simultaneously with split view

Upload photos	Reply, move, label and more

Efficiency
Our inboxes overflow with dozens and even hundreds of messages a day—and this can be even more challenging on a smaller screen. The new Gmail app helps organize your mail so you don’t have to go wading through your inbox to find that key message from your boss or loved one:

• Focus on your important messages first with Priority Inbox
• Quickly scan countless emails on the same subject with threaded conversations
• Organize your mail by archiving, labelling, starring, deleting and reporting spam

Threaded conversations on the iPad

Touch
We’ve also optimized the interface so you can perform common actions in Gmail with the lightest touch:

• Pull down your inbox to rapidly refresh if you’re eager for new mail
• Swipe right to view your labels without ever leaving your inbox
• Swiftly scroll through dozens of emails just by sliding your finger

Pull down to refresh	Swipe right to view labels

We hope the Gmail app makes checking email on the go a little easier. It is available in the App Store today and works on all devices running iOS 4+. For more information, check out our help center.

Update: 11/16/11 On 11/2 we launched a new Gmail app for iOS but after finding a bug removed the app from the App Store. Starting today, the Gmail app is now available again.

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WTF is this iPad Air thing

Fighting Talk Apples wow factor evaporates a little further 

Apple fans, you better duck. Im taking aim. And you know whats coming. iPad Air? iPad Mini with Retina display? Is that it?!
OK, Ill admit it - I will probably get one. But before you call me a hypocrite, hear me out. The fact is, Ill probably end up taking it back, too, thanks to that 14-day returns period.

Lets be honest here. Apple seems to have lost the plot. I watched the announcement like everyone else, waiting for a shooting star to appear on stage. Instead, I got the splatter of a wet lettuce - albeit one thats significantly lighter with a smaller bezel.

Circle of strife

Ill give Apple its dues - the iPad Air is a great step forward. But look at what it is replacing - the iPad 4, which was not much different to the iPad 3. There is nothing really innovative here.
Yeah, the bezel has been slimmed. Yay! Its lighter. Whoop!
But it still cant do the laundry or make me a frickin cup of tea, can it? Can it?

The first iPad was a revolutionary product. It may have initially been derided as a large iPod Touch, but it set the tone. Ill give Apple that.
And the second iPad was pretty damn pleasant too - because it changed the dimensions of what we already had. But the thing is, right from iPad 1, theres been another strategy Apples been working on... and that is to only give 90%, dressing it up as one hundred. To always keep something back.

Holding back

"For the last two iterations, weve got little improvements and now, were told something lighter will make it all OK? Give me a break!"

 

What am I talking about? Hands up if you screamed, kicked, bit and threatened to torch the joint because the first iPad came without a camera. Why? It was such an obvious omission.
The theory was Cupertino was keeping that for iPad 2 to give us reason enough to upgrade. Then iPad 2 came along, a lot sexier with a camera, but packing a crap display at a time when Retina was just taking off. WTF Apple? Youre better than this.

And so, for the last two iterations, weve got little improvements and now, were told something lighter will make it all OK? Give me a break! And dont get me started on the missing Touch ID. What is that about? Clearly, its being kept for the next model, to give us extra incentive to upgrade next year.
You can see this strategy all over - the iPad Mini only just got a Retina display. Why? Why did it not launch with one 12 months ago?! Ill tell you why - because then there would have been nothing to set it apart for customers come October 2013.

This is an appalling strategy, smacking of desperation from a company that is anything but. And before you shoot me down telling me the specs are higher internally, remember that for many people who are sold on looks, thats insignificant.
A cuter design or a nicer screen will shift infinitely more units than the difference between an A1 chip and an A9000000 chip when youre pitching to someone asking "Does this thing do Facebook?"

World leaders woes

Apples pride was evident on stage. We were told in reverential tones that "Apple has listened".
Heres an idea:... Read the rest of this post --->

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