Last month, we told you about an exciting new iPhone email client called Mailbox. The app, which has been described as a cross between Clear and Sparrow thanks to its simple, swipe-based UI, is slated to hit the App Store in the next few weeks.
And in anticipation of high demand for the free email client, Mailbox-creator Orchestra opened up a reservation system this morning. It operates on a first-come, first-served basis, and will help the team manage server traffic when the app lands...
Brace yourselves, Gmail account syncing is about to get a lot less convenient for iOS and other non-Android devices. The Mountain View company just announced that as part of its 'Winter Cleaning' initiative, it will be ditching support for the Exchange ActiveSync protocol next month.
What's Exchange ActiveSync? Well it's an XML-based protocol, developed by Microsoft, that allows the synchronization of email, calendar, contacts, and other data between servers and mobile devices. And at this point, it's the only way to get native Gmail push notifications on your iPhone...
Google has just updated its Gmail iOS app with multiple account support, a way overdue feature which finally allows you to set up, use and switch between up to five different Google accounts with just a few taps.
Gmail version 2.0, a major overhaul, in addition to a much cleaner and sleeker look has learned a few useful new tricks, like infinite scrolling inbox, threaded conversations, profile pictures, search predictions and auto-complete contact names, to name a few.
But the list of enhancements doesn't end there. Numerous new animations from swivels to transitions will dazzle you. Plus, you can now respond to Google Calendar invites inline, set up real-time notifications for new mail or take advantage of the interactive Google+ posts support to +1 and comment on Google+ posts inline. There's also a new app icon and a redesigned welcome experience. Do any of these features ring a bell? Profile pictures? Multiple accounts? Threaded conversations?
Yup, seems Google made good on its promise to leverage May's Sparrow acquisition towards improving the Gmail mobile experience. The search firm occasionally refreshes Sparrow with maintenance updates, like last month when the Sparrow app gained iPhone 5 and Passbook support...
After Apple rejected Sparrow's iPhone 5 update earlier in the month, critics cried foul and commentators happily pointed out Apple was attempting to derail the popular email client for iOS devices and Macs. There was little hope left for new features after Google acquired Sparrow in June. Plus, the search giant acknowledged as much when it said the Sparrow team would move to Google's Mountain View offices to work on new Gmail features. It's a welcome sign, then, that a new version of Sparrow just surfaced on the App Store. Though short of features, it does bring out two major nice-to-haves: support for the iPhone 5's taller display and Passbook integration...
I was a little surprised realizing the blogosphere today reported on a nice little nugget I discovered nearly a month ago, but here it goes. If you visit the iTunes Preview page on the web for Google's Gmail iOS app and check out the screenshots, you will notice a nice tribute to Apple's late CEO Steve Jobs in two screenies. The images depict an email message with the subject line “Your favorite Steve Jobs quotes” and contain the following text in the message body...
Google's been on a roll these days. They brought as the official YouTube app and the awesome Chrome browser, have improved Google Contacts sync in iOS, are working on a standalone Maps app and Street View on the web and will soon launch an interesting traveling companion app called Field Trip. Plus, Google's nice Gmail app for the iPhone and iPad is getting better with each iteration.
And earlier this morning, a minor update went live bringing support for the iPhone 5's taller four-inch dispay, so you can see more of your messages in the list view and more content in the message view without needing to scroll quite as much. Another benefit of the taller display: typing gets easier as the virtual keyboard in landscape mode is a bit wider.
Also, this...
Gmail for iOS received a minor update today, bringing the app to version 1.3.1. The email client now runs a bit more smoothly, and more importantly, it can now open links in the Chrome browser.
This is now the third app that Google has updated with this feature, behind Google+ and Sparrow, and it could be a preview of Google's future plans for the iOS platform and its iOS applications...
Google has just pushed out an incremental update to its native Gmail client for iOS. The new version brings three little nice-to-haves to your email arsenal, including the ability to send email messages from your alternate email addresses and stay logged in longer.
The biggest enhancements is the full support for iOS notifications, meaning you can now finally set up banners, alerts and lock screen options in Notification Center...
With one in two in the United States now owning a smartphone (was 40 percent of mobile subscribers in 2011), app downloads are on the rise, too.
Compared to last year, the average smartphone consumer in the U.S. now has 41 apps on their home screen, a 28 percent increase from 32 apps in last year, according to a Nielsen study released this morning.
Here are the top five downloaded apps across the iOS and Android platforms...
Normally I wouldn't dare log into my Gmail account from a public terminal, but this QR based login from Google is definitely a step in the right direction from a security standpoint.
As first reported by Ian Paul from PC World, you can now securely log into your Gmail account without typing your username or password into a computer.
It works by using your iPhone as the means for authentication instead, and it's a pretty slick way of staying relatively secure from would be password jackers. Video demonstration inside.
Are you one of the thousands of users who have transitioned their entire online ecosystem into Apple's iCloud? Did you stop syncing your contacts with Gmail in order to sync with iCloud? Do you want to maintain your address book with iCloud and have the same address book in Google Contacts?
Now you can with a paid application called Contacts Sync For Google Gmail...
Google's native Gmail application for iOS has had a rocky go of it over the past month. The initial app was yanked out of the App Store just hours after releases due to software bugs, and the app as a whole has received tons of criticism.
But that doesn't mean that Google is going to give up on it. In fact, the app just received a major update that not only brings tons of bug fixes, but also adds some new features like Scribbles, which lets you add your own art to emails...