A feature on Gmail on the web that has saved a number of people from sheer embarrassment and shame is now also coming to Gmail for Android.
Google's "Undo Send" feature has been available for years on the desktop version of Gmail, but it's long been absent on the Android version, oddly. That's changing now, of course. The feature is being carried over to Android, finally, beginning with version 8.7 of Gmail for Android.
Gmail Undo Feature Coming To Android, Finally
Android Police was the first to report about the feature coming to mobile. Google's support docs for "unsending" emails were updated at some point to mention the Android app as well, which is a good indication that Google plans to roll this feature out to as many users as possible. If it was just a test, Google wouldn't have made it public via the support docs.
Android Police says one's mileage may vary with regard to receiving the feature. The author's testing revealed that at times it wouldn't show up for a few minutes or that it would only show when the app had been force-killed or swept out of memory and then reopened. It's possible the new functionality is being rolled out on a server-side switch, compatible only with versions 8.7 and above.
In any case, the mobile implementation of Undo is basically the same as on the web. Upon sending an email, the app will display a notification down at the bottom of the screen, allowing the user to cancel the email as it's sending, which, if tapped, will take the user back to the compose screen.
If, on the other hand, the email actually goes through, the user can still stop the recipient from getting it. To do this, simply tap the "Undo" button, and Gmail takes care of the rest. Potential embarrassment averted.
Gmail Undo Feature
The Undo feature began as a Google Labs experiment, which was eventually rolled out to Gmail in 2015. It works by adding a time delay to sent emails, which lets users pull them back within a 10-second period. This isn't the first time it's coming to mobile, though: Google's Inbox app on both Android and iOS already has it.
Have you gotten the Undo feature on your Gmail app yet? Do you think it's a useful functionality to have? As always, if you have anything to share, feel free to sound them off in the comments section below!
