Gmail looks different, evolution or revolution?

The look of Gmail is changing. What’s new and what’s in it for us?

Every once in a while things have to change. New look, new features. So now it’s Google’s turn. But what will really change and what will it do for us? Is it an evolution or a revolution?

In the past 18 years that Gmail has existed, a lot has of course changed and improved, but apparently there is always room for improvement. With the latest changes, Gmail is back in line with today’s Google capabilities.

Appearance

When something is new, of course, the first thing you start with is what it looks like. Most notable is the new font. It’s called Google Sans Text. It is inspired by, for example, circles. But the biggest update is in the left column.

App Switcher

Here you first found a list with e-mail folders, Chat, Spaces and Meet. Now has become a veritable app switcher. Now when you click on the icons, not only does the item get a little bigger in the left pane, but it takes over your entire screen.

Within your Gmail you can do the same things that have nothing to do with your mail as before. It just looks very different now. A screen-filling display. Google would therefore like you to use their other services in your mail.

Material You

The search function has also been tinkered with. Better filter your emails for images and attachments. Furthermore, according to parent company Google, Gmail has gone shopping in the company’s new design language: Material You.

Material you was launched in 2021 in the design behind Android. The big idea behind it is that a phone’s user interface is inspired by the user. Google uses Artificial Intelligence to extract color palettes from your camera roll and, for example, to supplement your background in colors that suit the user.

For Gmail, this mainly means that Gmail’s drop shadows have disappeared and buttons are rounder. Wondering if the mail program will also check our mail in the future to find out what kind of person we are and then adjust the interface accordingly. For the time being, we see very little of Material You in the new Gmail at the moment.

sci-fi

For now, customizing the interface to the user still sounds a bit like science fiction, but in fact Gmail has been doing it for years. Launched in 2010, the Important Inbox is a feature that uses AI to learn who your most important contacts are and which messages end up in the Important Inbox.

For now, we believe that the new Gmail is mainly evolution, but the techniques in the background may well cause revolutionary changes in the future.

Old View

Last February, all business users were already migrated to the new Gmail. At this point, all users who have enabled Google Chat are following. If you don’t like the new interface, you can always switch back to the familiar view. Later this year, more updates will follow that should improve the experience on the tablet, among other things.