Google is testing new web-based Gmail features

[Jonathan Fairfield]

Google is testing new web-based Gmail features

Google’s products are constantly tested behind the scenes for potential new features, and since Gmail is just about as high as you can get on that list it makes sense that there’s no shortage of potential updates being explored at any given time.

Recently we explored a series of new feature for the mobile Gmail client, and now we have images of what those same features look like on a desktop browser.

No matter who you are, email clients are difficult to adjust. There’s a certain comfort level found in the rhythm of performing one of the most boring and routine tasks in our digital lives.

Doing anything to upset that rhythm — even if it is for the name of improving the overall experience — can often be frustrating for users. As a result Gmail’s changes are often subtle, are optional for a long time, and tend not to upset the overall workflow.

The wave of features we’ve been invited to take a look at shows an entirely different user interface, one that is clearly designed to function across a variety of screen sizes without losing functionality. Most importantly, it also closely resembles the mobile experience that we leaked recently.

Google’s fly-in menu system on the left removes the crazy tab system that was bolted into Gmail last year and places it in line with everything else, with a similarly collapsible Hangouts interface on the opposite side of the screen.

This setup lets you open everything up if you’re a fan of using the whole display for your email, but it also supports shrinking the window down so you can glance at your Inbox whenever you need it.

The bars that stretch across the display look a a little awkward at first, but when you keep in mind how much information can be displayed in those bars it is a setup that could prove useful to anyone who needs a more detailed scan of their Inbox when hunting for something.

Read more: http://www.geek.com/apps/google-is-testing-new-web-based-gmail-features-1593555/

[sturdyd]

Oh good. More Google tweaks to dick with. And this just at the time that Microsoft is giving me heartburn with their "Call us overprotective..." security, um, Charlie Foxtrot on Outlook. Somebody give me some alternatives, please!

[Nuddy]

Another hopeless thread.

Regards

[jjablonsky]

More to do with your Google account than email. But one of the new tweaks is going to be the inability to edit your google docs without installing an additiona app. This will not effect desktop user though.

[ozyjon]

Overload, to much stuff to take up too much of my time, people never look up at the sky any more, too occupied looking down.