We knew a significant Gmail redesign was in the works, and that it was only a matter of time until Google made it available to Gmail users. Well, it looks like that time has come and the brand new Gmail features are available to some users.
Google on Wednesday announced that all you have to do to get them is go to the Settings cog and select the Try the new Gmail option — if you can’t see it yet, don’t worry, it’s coming soon. You can also switch back to classic Gmail down the road.
So what’s new?
More buttons to push
Gmail is now making it easier for users to interact with emails and their contents. Hover over an email, and you get a new menu that lets you quickly deal with it. You can archive, delete, mark as read, or snooze an email without opening it.
As you can see in the animation above, attachments also get featured so you can get to them without opening messages.
Smart Reply on the web
Smart Replies are awesome on mobile, and they’re coming to the web.
Nudges
Gmail will now tell you to follow up and respond to messages that you’ve been putting off.
Google Tasks and panels
Google Tasks is a new mobile app released on Wednesday for both iPhone and Android. That’s important because the right side of Gmail is getting a collapsible panel that will include fast access to other G Suite apps, including Calendar, Keep, and, of course, Tasks.
Speaking of panels, you’ll be able to collapse the left side panel if you want more space for your emails.
Increased confidentiality
Say you’re about to share data with somebody that you wouldn’t want to be forwarded, copied, downloaded, or printed. Gmail makes it so. Furthermore, you can select a message to expire after a set period of time.
Yes, someone could still take screenshots of the contents of your sensitive email, and print or forward those.
Two-factor authentication
You can also add two-factor authentication to these secure emails, and the recipient will have to use a passcode received via text messages to read it.
New security warnings
Speaking of security, the new Gmail will bring you new warnings to highlight the potentially malicious emails coming through.
High-priority notifications
The mobile app is getting high-priority notifications so that you don’t miss important emails, as well as suggestions to unsubscribe from newsletters and offers you don’t really read.
Offline mode
Want offline access to Gmail? That’s also possible.
