Google has rolled out an updated version of its Gmail app for Android, which now has a slew of major features. The most notable of the changes is the ability to save email attachments directly on Google Drive.
In the past, you could only preview attachments or download them to your mobile's hard drive. But with storage at a premium for most devices, it helps if you could save larger files on the cloud and not have to give up any of your apps for space. You can then access these files from any device, including your computer, tablet or smartphone, as long as you have access to the Internet. This helps you save space and gives Google a better chance to push its cloud storage services.
Gmail for Android 4.8 also now provides spam explanations. Gmail is well-known for being ultra-aggressive against spam, which is a good thing. Every so often, though, you would find the important email that isn't a spam but junked in the spam folder. With the latest update, Gmail will now provide you with explanations as to why it thinks spam emails are considered spam.
Another notable feature is Gmail's improved user interface for RTL (right-to-left) users. Previously, only the text could be read from right to left. On Gmail 4.8, the entire interface is flipped.
"If you're an English speaker, you're used to reading sentences from left to right. But there are a lot of languages out there that are written from right to left, such as Arabic, Hebrew and Persian," says Gmail on its Google+ page. "If you're a speaker of one of these languages, Gmail for Android now looks and feels the way you'd expect with profile pictures and the navigation menu on the right instead of the left."
Gmail has also made its side navigation menu ubiquitous. You can now swipe from the left (or right if you're an RTL user) and bring up the menu, as well as the Settings, Help and Feedback options. If you're using more than one Google account, Gmail will also now display profile pictures for each account, with a check mark to indicate which account you are currently using.
The update also adds messages and images to empty folders. It's not much but it's a simple way to congratulate you for dealing with all your emails for the day. On the inbox, the message is "You're all done! Please enjoy your day." In the trash folder, it is "No trash here. Thanks for recycling!" And in the spam folder, it says, "Hooray, no spam here!"
Google will roll out the changes over the next few days. If you haven't already got Gmail for Android, you can download it from the Google Play Store for free.
