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09Mar

Gmail’s biggest redesign is now live

Google’s web-based email, Gmail, has more than 1.4 billion active users. After years of relative stability, Gmail is getting a redesign and major upgrade on April 25. Some of those updates appear to be most useful for businesses, with others designed for consumers.

Changes that make your inbox easier to use.

Four new features bring the Gmail inbox into 2018:

A new, streamlined design: Gmail’s fonts are changing from Arial to Product Sans for interface elements and Roboto for email and messages. The new fonts were designed by Google to make text easier to read on mobile devices. Gmail welcomes you to your new Inbox with three of the five new tabs active (Primary, Social, and Promotions).

Offline Mode: Gmail is finally available even when you don’t have a WiFi connection. Mobile users can search, write, respond, delete, or archive up to 90 days of messages without an internet connection. Teams can start using offline capabilities in coming weeks.

Side Panel: Calendar, Keep, and Tasks can now finally be accessed from within your inbox screen. The side panel will let you organize meetings, plan out your day, or just scribble down a few notes without leaving an email to go to another tab or another app. A corresponding Google Tasks mobile app is being released on both iOS and Android.

Snooze lets you decide when you want to be reminded of the email.

The changes that make your inbox smarter

New AI-powered features in Gmail, like Nudging, Smart Reply, and high-priority notifications, can now help you spend more time on work that matters.

Nudging: A brightly-colored box will appear when you’ve ignored an email for far too long, letting you know that it’s time to finally take the plunge and do so.

Smart Reply: Based on the emails you’ve exchanged in the past, Gmail will now populate and offer a simple response to each and every email. It’s only available on mobile right now.

High-priority notifications: Based on the emails you open, read, and respond to, Gmail will only show you push alerts for the emails that are really urgent, and let you check out the ones that aren’t when you open your inbox.

Unsubscribe: Based on how many emails you get from certain senders and how often you open them, Gmail will ask if you want to unsubscribe.

Improved offline functionality: Mobile users can search, write, respond, delete, or archive up to 90 days of messages without an internet connection. Teams can start using offline capabilities in coming weeks.

Less buzzing: If you’re sick of your Gmail smartphone or tablet app buzzing all day long when new emails come in, the new Gmail will have an option to receive alerts only for messages Gmail deems “high priority.”

The changes that make your inbox more secure.

New features ensure that your inbox secure and data protected:

Confidential Mode: it lets you set expiration dates for sensitive information. The message disappears after the allotted time — no forwarding, downloading or copying the contents after that.

Spam looks more like spam: Color-coded warnings have come to Gmail, and they’re all about helping you see what’s the real deal and what isn’t.

Bold security warnings: Security warnings are flagged with stark red backgrounds and have been written so they are easier to understand.

With new security and intelligent features, the new Gmail means business. The all-new Gmail experience is available for businesses in the G Suite Early Adopter Program (EAP) and can be turned on in the Admin console.

To activate on your personal account select “Try the new Gmail” under Settings in the top right — that changes to “Go back to classic Gmail” if you change your mind.

Confidential mode, Nudging, unsubscribe suggestions, and high-priority notifications are set to roll out in the next few weeks, but other features (hover, side panel, attachment icons, Snooze, Smart Reply) are available from April 25 to most users by clicking the settings cog at the top of their inbox and choosing “try new Gmail.” If none of these new features interest you, don’t give up hope. Google says more changes will be announced in the coming weeks. Stay tuned.

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