Posted by Manu Cornet, Software EngineerManu: Hey, how would you fancy some new Gmail themes?Jake: Sure, I would love that! How usable are they?Manu: Huh, usable? Well, there’s a flishy-flashy theme that blinks every...Jake: What? I don’t want thin...
Read MorePosted by David Tattersall, Associate Product ManagerIf you’re using Tasks, you’ve probably thought about something you’d like us to improve or an additional feature you wish you had. Well, we want to hear your ideas — whether they’re for...
Read MorePosted by Macduff Hughes, Engineering DirectorI have a couple different Gmail addresses that I use for different purposes. Historically, Google Accounts – including Gmail accounts — have only let people access one account at a time per browser,...
Read MorePosted by Adam de Boor, Software EngineerDragging and dropping files is an easy way to save time in Gmail. We’ve previously blogged about dragging files to upload as attachments and dragging images into new messages. Now, if you're using Google Chrom...
Read MorePosted by Cody Bratt, Google Chat teamTwo weeks ago we asked you to submit photos of you video chatting with your grandma. Thank you for all your submissions! As promised, we’d like to highlight a few photos that particularly touched us.Emmanuel fr...
Read MorePosted by Jason Toff, Grandson of Evelyn & IdaOften when I tell people that I work on Google video chat, I hear stories about how they’ve used it to give a video tour of a new home to friends, introduce a baby to relatives, keep in touch with traveli...
Read MorePosted by Joe Ashear, User Experience DesignerWhen I came to Google four years ago, a small group of engineers was putting the finishing touches on a calendar application. A few of us started using it, and I remember thinking, "Wow! It's so fresh and s...
Read MorePosted by Michael Davidson, Software EngineerRecently, we launched a feature that allows you to drag an attachment from your computer right onto Gmail.I've always been a fan of the inserting image lab, so I naturally wondered if it would be possible to...
Read MorePosted by Henry Wong, Software EngineerOne of the things people like best about Google Buzz is the ability to have conversations in the comments. But until now, if you were reading a post in an email client (like the native mail app on your phone or Ou...
Read MorePosted by Greg Bullock, Software Engineer
As a Brit, my friends and family often tell me they're miffed that they get an @googlemail.com address instead of @gmail.com. Today I have good news for them: Google Mail is soon becoming Gmail again in the UK.
If you already have a Google email account in the UK, you'll soon have the option to switch your existing @googlemail.com address to the matching @gmail.com one, but you're also free to stick with @googlemail.com. And starting later this week, anybody who signs up for a new account in the UK will get an @gmail.com address. Since "gmail" is 50% fewer characters than "googlemail," we estimate this name change will save approximately 60 million keystrokes a day. At about 217 microjoules per keystroke, that's about the energy of 20 bonbons saved every day!
We'll be making this transition over the next week, and will update this post as the changes roll out. So to Aunty Pamela, Uncle Maurice, and everyone else in the UK, welcome to Gmail!
Update (6:30 pm PST, May 5th): We've updated the homepage in the UK to show "Gmail" instead of "Google Mail," and from now on, all new accounts will get @gmail.com addresses. If you're in the UK and would like to change your @googlemail.com address to @gmail.com, just click "switch to @gmail.com" in the Accounts tab under Settings (this link will only show up if you're eligible to change your address).
Switching will only affect your address; your account settings, contacts, and existing mail won't be modified. And you won't miss any mail if you make the switch -- any mail sent to your old @googlemail.com address will be automatically delivered to your new @gmail.com address. If you want, you can send messages from your @googlemail.com address by setting up a custom "from" address, or if you change your mind you can even switch back to your @googlemail.com address. If you have any questions about how this change affects you, check out the FAQ in our Help Center.
Posted by Matt Steiner, Software EngineerWe've been constantly updating Google Buzz, adding features that you've requested and making small tweaks that improve the experience for power users. Here are three things that have rolled out over the last cou...
Read MorePosted by Adam de Boor, Software EngineerI'm always looking for ways to save time. Suppose I want to attach some files to an email, and I already have a folder open containing those files.I used to have to click "Attach a file," find the photos, click ...
Read MorePosted by Oana Florescu, Software EngineerSince my friends share their schedules with me in Google Calendar, when I want to see a movie with them, I can check to see which nights they're free before sending out an email about it. However, I need to swi...
Read MorePosted by Mussie Shore, Product ManagerWe've seen lots of people using Google Buzz to share interesting links from around the web. To do so, you had to copy and paste the link from one browser window to another — there weren't buttons that made i...
Read MorePosted by Mark Knichel, Software Engineer
We launched Gmail Labs over a year and a half ago as a playground where engineers can come up with new features and let your input help decide which are good ideas and which don't quite work out. Any engineer at Google can come up with a feature, code it, and launch it quickly to tens of millions of users.
Labs started out with 13 features and quickly grew to 60, with even more on the way. We've received countless comments and kept an eye on our stats: some of these experimental features were adopted by millions and others trickled along with little usage. A couple have already graduated from Labs and we've already retired one: Tasks was the first to become a regular part of Gmail, Right-side Labels was retired when we updated the way labels work, and Offline Gmail graduated a couple months back. Today, true to the original intent of Gmail Labs, we're graduating six more features and retiring five.
Graduating:
Retiring:
These decisions were made based based mainly on usage, taking feature polish and your feedback into account. We've also tweaked some of the graduating features to improve them before making them default Gmail features. For example, we've combined Go To Label with Search Autocomplete, making it easier than ever for you to find what you're looking for.
Search Autocomplete and Go To Label
Start typing in the Gmail search box (English only for now), and Gmail suggests terms that might help you find what you're looking for — from contact names to labels and advanced search operators.
We've integrated Go To Label into this search box as well. If you have keyboard shortcuts turned on, type "g" then "l" and instead of getting the old "Go to label" pop-up, you'll be in the search box with the "label:" operator filled in for you. Start typing the label you want to go to, and autocomplete will take it from there. All you have to do is hit enter. If you want to send your cursor to the blank search field, the keyboard shortcut "/" will do it.
Forgotten Attachment Detector
From time to time, we all forget to attach a file and sheepishly send another email with the forgotten attachment. To help save you from that embarrassment, Gmail looks for phrases in your email that suggest you meant to attach a file and alerts you if it looks like you forgot an attachment.
YouTube Previews
If you're like me, your friends probably often email you links to YouTube videos. Instead of having to click on the link and wait for a new window to load before you can watch the video, Gmail now shows YouTube previews right below the message. All you have to do is click the play button and enjoy.
Custom Label Colors
Why settle for a restrictive palette when you can choose from over 4000 possible color combinations to help distinguish and organize your labels? Just click on "Add custom color" from the regular labels interface.
Vacation Dates
If you specify which dates you'll be away in advance, you won't have to remember to turn on the vacation responder when when you're actually on vacation. Set your dates in advance, and let Gmail do the rest.
Retiring features is always a tough decision — we invest in building and maintaining them and we realize some of you are probably fans of some of Gmail's lesser-used features. But Labs are experimental features, and from time to time they may break (that's why there's a quick way to disable them), or even disappear. Over the next few days, you'll see Muzzle, Fixed Width Font, Email Addict, Location in Signature, and Random Signature stop working and disappear from the Labs tab.
We'll keep working on new Labs to help make your Gmail experience even better, and we'll continue to graduate successful features and retire the ones that don’t work out to make room for new ones. Thank you to all the engineers who have worked on Labs features — especially Bruce, Darick, Jon (the intern), Ibrahim, Chris, Keith, Chad, Michael, and Marco! Please continue to send us feedback and remember that you vote for your favorite Labs features by using them and leaving comments.
