Gmail Redesign: Everything to Know About the Update
Inbox users might get déjà vu.
In an email to its G Suite customers, Google announced on Wednesday that the company plans to launch a new Gmail design. The interface will contain several new elements that will make Gmail users’ web experience more aligned with Google Inbox for mobile.
In a confidential email (that leaked, of course) G Suite customers were offered a chance to opt-in and use the new design through an Early Adopter Program. Google offers some expectations for the new interface, including a “Smart Reply” feature, the ability to snooze emails, offline support, and a Google Calendar sidebar, not to mention new web layouts that come with these changes.
Google's email to G Suite customers
The Smart Reply feature, where Gmail provides automated suggestions at the bottom of each email to generate faster responses, is already a tool found in Google Inbox for mobile. The new snooze feature, which will allow users to temporarily remove emails from their inbox until they are ready to reply, is also a fan favorite in the Inbox app. While these were considered radical new features when Google debuted them in the app in 2015, this new redesign feels like a web integration of what has worked on mobile for years.
The Gmail design will also a feature a new sidebar that will allow users to reference their Google Calendar and Keep note-taking app alongside email. There will be three new layouts of the integrated system to choose from: a default view that highlights attachments, a comfortable view that does not, and a compact view that condenses more messages onto a single page.
Google plans to make the new design available to G Suite and Gmail users through the Early Adopter Program within the next few weeks. In the meantime, it is currently being tested inside Google and with a few trusted partners.
Usually, companies that deliver drastic changes to their UI can expect backlash from a change-resistant fanbase. Given that Google’s announcement includes mostly familiar updates, user outrage hasn’t erupted… yet. Of course, the company’s email to G Suite customers said that these were just a few of the changes users can expect.
