Ten years after the launch of Gmail, Google is debuting Inbox by Gmail, a new Gmail client aimed at competing with third-party options such as Sparrow, Mailbox and Boxer.
While Inbox by Gmail is currently invite-only, most users who have requested an invite have received it after a day or two. Read on to find out why you should request an invite for Inbox by Gmail.
1. Treating emails like a to-do list
Inbox by Gmail is based on treating emails like a to-do list and as such it makes sense there would be features that let you "snooze" emails, mark emails as done and mark messages as important.
Inbox by Google allows users to do all of those things. One of the most unique features is the "snooze" function. For example, if a user gets an email one evening that they don't want to deal with until they get in to work the next morning, they can simply snooze it until the next morning at which point Inbox will remind them of the email. Inbox also allows users to "pin" emails, after which users can flick a switch and see all pinned emails. Users can also specify exactly what Google should remind them to do with those pinned emails.
2. Emails get the "Google Now" treatment
There's no denying Inbox is essentially what happens when Google Now meets Gmail. Google Now was able to read emails and remind users of important things like travel at the right time, but Inbox takes this a step further and automatically bundles all related emails together.
Whereas before users could label emails to be grouped together, that feature is now automatic and eliminates the problem of forgetting to label emails.
3. Bundles and Highlights
As mentioned before, "bundles" are automatically grouped emails related to a particular subject. However, there is a lot that can be done with those bundles. Once a new email that is part of the bundle arrives, the entire bundle moves up, making for a much cleaner interface.
Highlights are also a way that Google has cleaned up the interface of Inbox. Inbox essentially pulls out the most important information of an email and displays it straight away, meaning that users often won't even have to open the email to see what it's about.
4. Inbox on mobile and desktop
Inbox by Gmail is available as a desktop client and as a mobile app. In fact, it seems as though the service was designed with mobile in mind, which would make sense considering the "quick glance" nature of it. The desktop interface is essentially just a stretched out version of the mobile interface, which, by the way, isn't at all a bad thing.
The mobile version allows users to swipe emails left to snooze them and right to mark them as done, which is a nice touch and should allow for a quicker and more efficient experience.
5. Material Design
Perhaps not as important as other things but nice nonetheless is the design of Inbox. Inbox is clearly part of Google's Material Design look, and is very clean and easy to look at. Features are easy to reach in two clicks or less and while it is very different from Gmail, perhaps that's a good thing.
Conclusions
Google is trying to reinvent the way users interact with email and it's doing a great job. Inbox still has a long way to go and there are a lot of questions, but as a strategy for email managing, Inbox by Gmail is a great one. It is highly likely the service will continue to be updated for a while before it is taken out of beta and questions that users have will, over time, be answered.
