Articles about Gmail

I am definitely a Gmail power user. Not only do I use it for much of my personal email, but business communications too. Does it bother me that the search giant scans the contents of my messages for advertising? Yes, a bit, but I realize there is no such thing as a free lunch.

What does really bother me, however, is how archaic Gmail looks nowadays. The appearance is boring and drab. To make matters worse, I know Google is capable of a beautiful redesign -- it is frustrating that the company just doesn't. Today, Gmail gets a little lipstick by way of new hi-res themes and new emojis.

Continue reading →

We've all had occasions when we've sent an email and then, for one reason or another, wished we hadn't. It may have been a message fired off in anger, or a missive you notice is littered with typos. For some time -- six years in fact -- Google has offered a bit of a safety net in the form of the Undo Send Labs feature.

For more than half a decade this was nothing more than an experimental feature, hence its appearance in Labs. But now Google has announced that it is being properly integrated into Gmail for everyone to use. There's no need to enable an experiment option any more, this is now a feature that everyone can access through Gmail's settings.

Continue reading →

Last October, Google introduced a new email app, called Inbox by Gmail. It provided a different way of accessing the search giant's webmail service, and was designed to cut through the crap in a busy inbox and just present you with what was important. You could even snooze emails for a later time.

However, Inbox (like Gmail itself originally) was only available by invite. You needed to sign up and wait, or get invited by someone already using the service. Well today that changes, and if you haven’t already got it, and you want to try it, you now can as it’s open to all. But that’s not the only big news -- Google has made several major improvements to it.

Continue reading →

Gmail might be the most popular email service in the world, but even the biggest players fall sometimes, and once that happens, the little guys will be there to cheer.

Server outages and crashes have happened before, and even though Gmail is generally seen as a solid, well-built and stable product, it too can crash, leaving you without all those precious emails you’ve been saving.

Continue reading →

Late last year, Google introduced support for multiple email providers in Gmail for Android, welcoming users of Outlook.com, Yahoo Mail and other such services to manage all their accounts using its app. There are plenty of folks who are not just Gmail or Google Apps users, after all. However, the app wasn't properly designed to handle all the extra accounts that users would set up.

The problem? Users had to switch between accounts every time they received new emails or wanted to reply to a message. Now, Google is finally correcting this by giving Gmail for Android a much-needed unified inbox.

Continue reading →

Few weeks go by without Google coming under fire for some privacy-related misdemeanor or other. In Italy, however, the search giant has just agreed to comply with measures put in place by the Data Protection Authority. Moreover, the company will be subjected to regular audits to make sure that everything is in order.

Google is required to make improvements not only to privacy notices for its various services, but also obtain consent from users to use their data in research and profiling. The right-to-be forgotten also rears its head again as the authority requires Google to investigate individuals' requests for search listing removals.

Continue reading →

It's not all that long since Google launched Inbox. The 'smart' alternative to Gmail appeared a few months ago and Google tried to get the hype machine going by launching it as an invite-only service, gradually trickling out invites here and there.

Now the search giant is trying a new tactic to encourage people into using the service, specifically Apple users. Google has pulled the iOS and Mac version of the Sparrow email app from the App store; the hope is clearly that Sparrow users will migrate to Inbox.

Continue reading →

China is one of the more 'interesting' counties when it comes to its attitude to allowing unfettered access to the internet. The Great Firewall of China is famed for the restrictions it places on the online activities of Chinese citizens. New data seems to suggest that Google's Gmail is currently blocked in the country.

Dyn Research, a web traffic research company, reports that Gmail traffic is being blocked at the IP level rendering Google's email service inaccessible within most of China. The disruption appears to have started late on Christmas day and is still on-going.

Continue reading →

Google today revealed a new feature for Gmail that should help to increase inbox security. Newly added support for Content Security Policy (CSP) keeps Gmail extensions in check to ensure that none are malicious or try to interfere with your Gmail session.

It's essentially server-side malware protection for Gmail extensions, and this is just the latest move from Google that aims to increase inbox security. Email security is of interest to everyone online, but it's something that is particularly important to business and enterprise users -- groups Google is keen to keep happy.

Continue reading →

For anyone who has ever been sent MP3 songs or YouTube videos via Email, you may be interested to hear that you can actually play these straight from your Gmail inbox.

It’s also possible to compile all the songs and videos that you’ve ever received into a playlist, meaning you can listen to all your favorite music without having to open another tab or program. Here's how it’s done.

Continue reading →

Hands up if your inbox is out of control? From that quick show of hands, it's clear that the idea of inbox zero has not caught on globally. We all have more email to deal with than ever before, even if most of it is junk. Google has a new solution to email overload. Inbox. This is, Google is quick to point out, not Gmail, although it is from the same people.

Available for your Android phone and the web, Inbox by Google helps to cut through the crap to ensure that you're free to focus on what actually matters. It expands on some of the ideas already found in Gmail, but is a completely separate tool. This is Google recognizing that people use email not only to communicate with others, but also to organize their lives and keep on top of a schedule.

Continue reading →

On Android, setting up email services other than Gmail involves using the built-in Email app or heading over to Google Play to install dedicated clients. But it looks like users may soon get another option, as Google will likely offer support for more email providers, like Outlook.com and Yahoo Mail, in its upcoming Gmail 5.0 app.

This appears to be Google's way of ensuring that Android users will finally be able to enjoy a consistent email experience no matter what device they may use or what customizations and apps the operating system features. It is a welcome change, and one that is long overdue.

Continue reading →

When Google first launched the new compact compose window in Gmail, many of you might have noticed something annoying about inserting images.

One of the greatest Gmail features has been drag and drop. But if you drag an image into the compose window it is inserted inline. This is less than optimal for two reasons. One, if you want to write an email and insert many images, you probably don't want them inline as it ruins the reading experience. Two, inline images are very static and you can't manipulate them: you can't zoom in or see the pictures in a full window view, and you also can't easily save them to either Google Drive or your computer as you can with attachments.

Continue reading →

New Gmail users will no longer have to sign up to Google's flagging social network Google+, after two and half years of mandatory social account creation. Users previously had to sign up to Google+ when signing up for Gmail, Google Docs and variety of other Google products.

Whilst the company still encourages users to sign up for Google+ it now has a "No thanks" button when offering the service during the sign up procedure for its products.

Continue reading →

Google is an amazing company that offers many products and services that make our lives better. For example, Gmail, YouTube, Maps and Android help many people every day. Unfortunately, there is one downside to living in Google's world -- having one password.

You see, with Google services, one password gains access to them all by utilizing a central account. If your password is exposed, nefarious people can wreak havoc across Google, including your precious Gmail account. Unfortunately, this recently happened to 5 million users and you could be one of them! Don't panic -- there is now an app for iOS and Android that can tell you if you are affected.

Continue reading →