Google introduced Improved GMail service for iPhone and Android
Improved GMail service for iPhone and Android
Google has introduced a major revision to Gmail for mobile that takes advantage of the latest browser technology available on iPhone and Android devices. It has improved user interface, made it faster to open messages, allowed for batch actions and added some basic offline support. The new mobile GMail service will offer faster performance, improved offline operation, new functionality, and interface enhancements that take advantage of the unique properties of smartphones.
Now if you go to gmail.com from your iPhone or Android browser, archiving email is quicker because it doesn’t require a response from a remote server. Instead, Google cache mail on the device itself. Actions like archiving or starring messages are first applied to this cache and then sent to Gmail servers in the background whenever a network connection is available. You only have to wait for a response from the server when you’re requesting an uncached message or list of messages. As a result, you can start-up Gmail even if you’re on a slow connection. You can even compose mail and open recently read messages while offline. Google made extensive use of other browser functions too: for example, the floaty bar that lets you archive, delete or apply more actions is animated via CSS transformations and controlled in part with touch events (when you scroll the screen, it follows you).The HTML5 canvas tag is used to render the progress spinner without the overhead of downloading animated GIFs to the device.
To try this new version of Gmail for mobile, just go to gmail.com from your mobile browser. It’s currently available on any Android-powered devices or iPhone OS 2.2.1 or higher. For now, the new version is available in English only. Google will be rolling this version out to everyone over the course of the day, so if you don’t see the updated user interface yet, check back soon.
Filed Under: Breaking News • Google • services
About the Author: Faysal Chowdhury, a Civil Engineer at day and an intelligent tech blogger at night. Stationed in Dhaka, Bangladesh he is has been with HotCellularPhone.com since the beginning, dated back to 2008. After receiving his Bachelor’s Degree in 2006, he started working as a Civil Engineer for Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) but his tech savvy mind always kept up with the mobile world and keeping everyone updated as well.
