Google Launches Gmail Add-ons and Brings a Range of Business Tools To the Inbox (betanews.com)

Google today launched Gmail Add-ons after a beta testing period as a developer preview earlier in the year. From a report: Gmail Add-ons are extensions that bring a number of big-name services -- such as Trello, Wrike and Asana -- to your inbox. While there's a definite business and enterprise bias, it's something that available to everyone, starting right now. The arrival of Gmail Add-ons is Google's recognition of the fact that many people now spend a huge amount of time in their inboxes, and the company is trying to make its email service even more useful. Pleasingly, add-ons are available on both the web and on Android, and Google explains that "your inbox can contextually surface your go-to app based on messages you receive to help you get things done faster."

Comments

oh boy, lets crap up the interface some more

[Anonymous Coward]

I know people, lets crap up our user interfaces so much that NOBODY will want to use it! Brilliant!

Re:oh boy, lets crap up the interface some more

[wjcofkc]

Right... call me when they have full integration with Sassee, Peloozoid, Looplab, and Minivivi. Not to mention Ploosnar, Roinad, and Luwest. Let's not leave out Cazoova and Johackle. Then I can really increase my bumooxa.

Re: oh boy, lets crap up the interface some more

[Anonymous Coward]

Gmail for business? Google reads your Gmail - not something a business would want.

Re: oh boy, lets crap up the interface some more

[Anonymous Coward]

Last I remember they don't read business (i.e. paid for) Gmail accounts.

AlphaBeta

[nastyphil]

Will remain in beta until discontinued.

Re:AlphaBeta

[Anonymous Coward]

This lovely bit.

"people now spend a huge amount of time in their inboxes"

Did they just notice this? Most large companies use outlook for a reason. It is the best email program you can buy today. It is far better than the free ones. The problem is cost of outlook plus exchange is why most people flip over to the other alternatives.

Some of the large companies I worked for getting 200-300 emails a day was not uncommon. I knew people who got 1500 plus a day. Without filters and folders that was totally unmanageable.

Re:AlphaBeta

[bogaboga]

Will remain in beta until discontinued.

I agree, sadly.

Re:AlphaBeta

[Anonymous Coward]

What do you mean by the "free ones"? You mean free software or free beer?

Is there any specific features in Outlook that are so unique ?

Who the hell is getting 1500 mail a day? Is that real job? Does this guy do anything but read mails during the day?

I havent seen Outlook being used since a while but, in any case, I have no recollection of it being such a smart and superior software.

Your message, sir, look like a cheap advertisement.

Re:AlphaBeta

[diesalesmandie]

What do you mean by the "free ones"? You mean free software or free beer?

Is there any specific features in Outlook that are so unique ?

Who the hell is getting 1500 mail a day? Is that real job? Does this guy do anything but read mails during the day?

I havent seen Outlook being used since a while but, in any case, I have no recollection of it being such a smart and superior software.

Your message, sir, look like a cheap advertisement.

If you are working some sort of technical support and depending on the scope of your team/role/the inbox 1500 a day is definitely believable, but based on my experience a significant portion of these will be automated alerts.

Re:AlphaBeta

[silas_moeckel]

If your working in support and your NMS is sending you 1500 emails a day you need a better NMS and/or a whole lot more automation.

Re:AlphaBeta

[Rob Y.]

The main advantage of Outlook is the ability to have multiple messages open in their own windows. Primarily so you can be working on an outgoing email for hours during which time you can also deal with any new incoming stuff.

Gmail is great as an email app for short messages. Outlook invites you to use it in place of a word processor. In fact, I almost never fire up Word at work (or Libre Writer at home) - preferring to do my 'writing' such as it is, in my email client. Gmail is okay for this. Outlook is better, but if it weren't foisted on my by my employer, I'd never actually pay for it...

Re: AlphaBeta

[Brockmire]

I didn't realize how much highlighting I did in email until I used Thunderbird, which doesn't have highlighting. Also, it's spam and filtering sucks compared to Outlook.

Re:AlphaBeta

[Anonymous Coward]

They spend so much time there that Google has another gmail app called Inbox through which you can read your gmail, at least until Google abandons it.

GMail is a tool for spying on you

[Anonymous Coward]

No thanks.

What are Trello, Wrike and Asana?

[hawguy]

What are Trello, Wrike and Asana and why would I want them (either for business or personal use)?

Re:What are Trello, Wrike and Asana?

[EvilSS]

What are Trello, Wrike and Asana and why would I want them (either for business or personal use)?

If only Google had a service that you could type this into and get more information about it....

Re:What are Trello, Wrike and Asana?

[war4peace]

I would if TFS wouldn't have called them "big-name services".

Re:What are Trello, Wrike and Asana?

[stephanruby]

Asana is a pretty popular project management web application. At least, it was popular three years ago. I don't know about now.

If nothing else, Asana helps you keep track of what everybody is doing on your team without needing to receive a zillion emails from everyone every time they accept a job, request something, update a status, or need the approval for something.

Re:What are Trello, Wrike and Asana?

[arielCo]

I bring thee from the unexplored land called The Fine Article:

The company shares a list of the currently available add-ons:

• Asana: Turn communication with clients, customers and teammates into tasks that can be tracked with your team in Asana, all from your inbox.
• Dialpad: Message or call colleagues on your device, any time. Automatically view recent communications or save a new contact straight from Gmail.
• DocuSign (coming soon): Sign and execute contracts, agreements and other documents directly in Gmail using the DocuSign add-on.
• Hire: Add candidates, manage candidate information and upload resumes without leaving Gmail. You can access full job applications from the Hire add-on.
• Intuit QuickBooks Invoicing: Create and send professional invoices directly in Gmail. Let customers pay you online and track invoice status and payments no matter where you are.
• ProsperWorks: Easily access prospect or customer data, and log activities from calls, demos and meetings. You can also scan related opportunities, tasks and events.
• RingCentral: See the online/offline status of RingCentral contacts, review recent call history, make outbound calls (requires RingCentral for Mobile) and view and send SMS messages.
• Smartsheet: Add email content and desired attachments directly to Smartsheet without leaving Gmail.
• Streak: Add email threads to deals, view enriched contact info and quickly respond with snippets directly from Gmail with the Streak add-on.
• Trello: Turn email into actionable tasks in Trello to give your team a shared perspective on the work that needs to be done.

Re:What are Trello, Wrike and Asana?

[Anonymous Coward]

They're companies with a friend inside google. I know about Trello because Atlassian recently bought them. The other two? Why were they chosen for such special access? Who do I have to blow at Google for that kind of access? Let's talk about support for this Gmail product. What is on offer? A forum with no discernable interaction from Google itself. Wait, what if you PAY for Google's business email product? Same shit--no service. You can't buy support from Google. The only time you'll hear from them is if you cut your adwords budget. They will kindly help you start spending money again.

So, why these three companies for early access? Do they spend a lot on adwords? I'd guess not. Did they have a relationship with an account manager somewhere else in the company? I don't think that exists. So who chose these three? Like I said, who do I have to blow over at Google to get such a great opportunity.

Re:What are Trello, Wrike and Asana?

[JaredOfEuropa]

In other words, an utter data goldmine for Google.

Re:What are Trello, Wrike and Asana?

[hawguy]

I bring thee from the unexplored land called The Fine Article:

Did you read what you posted? I read TFA before I asked the question -- a recursive definition is not a definition. Saying that the Asana plugin lets you use Asana doesn't really help - what is Asana and why would I want to use it over some other product? Similarly, saying that the Trello plugin lets me use Trello doesn't really help. Are Trello and Asana the same? What about Wrike, which is not mentioned at all?

The company shares a list of the currently available add-ons:

• Asana: Turn communication with clients, customers and teammates into tasks that can be tracked with your team in Asana, all from your inbox.
• Dialpad: Message or call colleagues on your device, any time. Automatically view recent communications or save a new contact straight from Gmail.
• DocuSign (coming soon): Sign and execute contracts, agreements and other documents directly in Gmail using the DocuSign add-on.
• Hire: Add candidates, manage candidate information and upload resumes without leaving Gmail. You can access full job applications from the Hire add-on.
• Intuit QuickBooks Invoicing: Create and send professional invoices directly in Gmail. Let customers pay you online and track invoice status and payments no matter where you are.
• ProsperWorks: Easily access prospect or customer data, and log activities from calls, demos and meetings. You can also scan related opportunities, tasks and events.
• RingCentral: See the online/offline status of RingCentral contacts, review recent call history, make outbound calls (requires RingCentral for Mobile) and view and send SMS messages.
• Smartsheet: Add email content and desired attachments directly to Smartsheet without leaving Gmail.
• Streak: Add email threads to deals, view enriched contact info and quickly respond with snippets directly from Gmail with the Streak add-on.
• Trello: Turn email into actionable tasks in Trello to give your team a shared perspective on the work that needs to be done.

But no S/MIME / GPG / PGP?

[unrtst]

I understand why they don't add these, but come on. Those should be the first add-ons added. There are even browser add-ons that add S/MIME functionality to gmail and other web based clients (ie. it can and has been proven/done).

I don't want an interface to quickbooks in my email client. I want an interface to standard email features in my email client.

Re:But no S/MIME / GPG / PGP?

[drinkypoo]

I understand why they don't add these, but come on. Those should be the first add-ons added. There are even browser add-ons that add S/MIME functionality to gmail and other web based clients (ie. it can and has been proven/done).

No sense in trusting google to handle that for you. Try Mailvelope or WebPG.

Re:But no S/MIME / GPG / PGP?

[thegarbz]

No sense in trusting google

The whole point of using open standards like S/MIME is you don't need to trust anything. It will either work or it won't, and you can easily verify the former.

Re:But no S/MIME / GPG / PGP?

[unrtst]

Isn't that the point of the add-ons? Mailvelope and WebPG could then be offered as add-ons, instead of browser extensions. The gmail add-on would extend the base of people that could use it with gmail (ex. on mobile web clients, safari, MSIE, opera, mobile gmail app, etc), though it is product-specific (gmail only, not other webmail providers).

Also, neither of those does S/MIME. I'm pretty sure there are similar solutions for S/MIME, but again, this should be part of the mail client (IMO).

Re:But no S/MIME / GPG / PGP?

[DogDude]

You're not understanding what GMail is. Gmail is arguable the largest data harvesting application on the planet. They can't harvest data if it's encrypted. They will never allow encrypted emails.

Re:But no S/MIME / GPG / PGP?

[unrtst]

1. they already allow it via other methods:
a) use mailvelope, webpg, etc and the existing webmail infrastructure
b) use any standard IMAP client (a couple examples: k9mail on android; outlook, thunderbird, alpine, etc etc etc elsewhere)

2. maybe you don't understand what gpg/pgp/smime do? Yes, they can encrypt, but they're more commonly used to sign, which ensures the message content isn't modified at any point. This would NOT impact their ability to data harvest.

3. they can still mine info from encrypted emails by either:
a) like how whatsapp does, where it's the connections they're interested in. That's a HUGE thing (social relationships).
b) if google made it, it's VERY likely they would offer a convenience feature of storing the key securely on their servers so that all your clients would just work. If they do this, then could then scan all your email still. Sure, big step back if you're already encrypting all emails as one more party has access, but it's still a big step forward for anyone sending in the clear.

I hope they make a Buzz add-on

[AvitarX]

I really miss Buzz

Re: I hope they make a Buzz add-on

[AvitarX]

This wasn't a joke.

I liked having a special folder to keep up with a few people and not be overwhelmed with nonsense.

Re:I hope they make a Buzz add-on

[Anonymous Coward]

Currently they're focusing their efforts on an add-on for iTunes Ping.

Re: I hope they make a Buzz add-on

[Anonymous Coward]

Do I have to use Chrome or can they make an addon compatible with my Netscape Navigator 4.7?

Re: I hope they make a Buzz add-on

[AvitarX]

I can imagine nothing worse than NN 4.7

A terrible blast from the past.

Re: I hope they make a Buzz add-on

[WallyL]

Before you could count to five, it had already fizzled.

Email is so last decade

[WillAffleckUW]

A lot of heuristic analytics are showing that consumers are starting to drop email, actually, and that adding chrome like add on services to such is mostly a waste of time.

It's time for another seismic shift, and rearranging the deckchairs like this won't stop it.

Re:Email is so last decade

[Anonymous Coward]

Consumers are idiots. They also aren't generally paying for e-mail.

Enterprise is where the money is at and e-mail is not going away for a ton of reasons. Could it be improved? Sure. But try getting the IETF to consider touching SMTP...

Re: Email is so last decade

[Anonymous Coward]

Email use in on the increase, its just that more people are finally realizing that only an imbecile would use web mail.
The other problem is that there's nothing to replace email with that isn't centralized at some shady company. You can host your email anywhere or move it later if you have your own domain name.

It's all about staying logged in

[Trax3001BBS]

Using a computer to access Gmail, I log out after or it tracks everything google related.

Cell phone (secondary gmail) I don't have that luxury, somehow subscribing to Youtube's FailArmy and a notification every time a new video is posted.

Re:It's all about staying logged in

[Anonymous Coward]

Gmail supports IMAP. Use a mail client. Your phone most likely already has one.

Re:It's all about staying logged in

[hackel]

On the desktop, use a separate Firefox Container Tab just for Gmail. On your mobile, as suggested use IMAP or even a dedicated web browser just for GMail. It's really not that complicated. Of course you can also use a privacy blocker like uBlock, Noscript, etc. to avoid being tracked across the web.

Re:It's all about staying logged in

[Trax3001BBS]

Gmail supports IMAP. Use a mail client. Your phone most likely already has one.

No It's not logging out of gmail. Android your always logged into Google. At my start screen is a blue circle in the top right saying I'm logged it.

I read it's possible to log out but lose all Google services (I'm thinking about that one).

I for one don't mind Google tracking, I feel it's payback for Google Earth and such. It's them or other, I just don't give it to them by using 8.8.8.8 or 8.8.4.4

Thank you though for the advice on the blocking.

Google wish list

[Okian Warrior]

What are Trello, Wrike and Asana and why would I want them (either for business or personal use)?

If only Google had a service that you could type this into and get more information about it....

If only Google would spend some time making their UI better.

Delete is a trashcan icon when reading, but different when viewing the inbox. "Select all" means "select the first 50" (have to do that numerous times to actually select/delete *all* messages), "reply" is down at the bottom of "conversation" mode so that you have to scroll down many pages to reach it, "cc" and "bcc" are hidden *until* you click in the "to" line...

Many, many confusing and inconsistent interface choices, there's no overriding theme or standard that can be used to find functions you need, and many useful things are inconveniently positioned and not easy to see. I count 8 dropdown boxes for various functions on the GMail page, normal rules for "selection" (click, and see item highlighted) are different from every other program on my computer, it's just a mess.

You're forced to "guess and look" to do just about anything.

To get a feel for what I mean: deleting an item from the inbox is a very common action, so why is it hidden (until I mark a checkbox) and why does (this really common feature) take several steps? For all the bad things we say about Apple, at least they know how to make a good interface.

Re:Google wish list

[swillden]

Delete is a trashcan icon when reading, but different when viewing the inbox.

No, it's a trash can in both cases. When viewing the inbox it's not visible at all unless you select one or more emails.

"Select all" means "select the first 50"

Actually it means select all 50 that are showing.

have to do that numerous times to actually select/delete *all* messages

Well, if "numerous times" means "one more click".

You click "select all" to select all that are visible (50), then you get a little message that says "All 50 conversations on this page are selected", and a link to click to select all conversations, period. So, two clicks to select all if you have more than 50. The alternative is to have "select all" select a bunch of stuff that isn't being displayed, which could well confuse people.

"reply" is down at the bottom of "conversation" mode so that you have to scroll down many pages to reach

But all of the previous messages in the conversation are automatically hidden, so you normally only have to scroll past the part that you should read before replying. Assuming you read your email before replying to it.

Sigh. I typed a screed about the evils of top-posting and the value of proper trimming. But nobody other than oldsters like me even know what any of that means, so I should just give up.

"cc" and "bcc" are hidden *until* you click in the "to" line...

Most people consider that a feature, since it avoids wasting screen space on unneeded fields in the common case. And it's pretty unsurprising that when you want to edit who you're sending the message to, you click in the "to" area, and then the variations in how you're going to include them pop up.

To get a feel for what I mean: deleting an item from the inbox is a very common action, so why is it hidden (until I mark a checkbox)

Well, until Gmail incorporates eye tracking, how is it supposed to know which of the emails in your inbox you want to delete? If you click on one of them, it opens and you can delete it. If you want to delete one without opening it, you mark it (normally this is expected to be used only for bulk actions... where you mark several and then delete them at once).

why does (this really common feature) take several steps?

It takes the minimum possible number of steps: two. This is the minimum possible because you have to tell Gmail which email you want to do something to, and then you have to tell it what to do. The only way to turn that into a single step would be to include a "delete" icon next to every email which would consume a huge amount of screen real-estate to no purpose. The extra click is a better solution.

For all the bad things we say about Apple, at least they know how to make a good interface.

I can think of plenty of bad things to say about Google UIs, and about Gmail in particular, but none of yours make any sense.

BTW, in the spirit of pointing out undiscoverable features, I highly recommend that you type a question mark next time you're looking at your Gmail inbox. A little effort invested in learning the keyboard shortcuts pays huge dividends.

Re:Google wish list

[Scutter]

Explaining to a user why they're wrong for disliking a user interface is a major problem with UI designers. Maybe spend more time listening and you might be able to design a better interface.

Re: Google wish list

[Anonymous Coward]

If you require to reeducate the user to do it your way then it is you that is wrong as the designer.

Re:Google wish list

[swillden]

Explaining to a user why they're wrong for disliking a user interface is a major problem with UI designers. Maybe spend more time listening and you might be able to design a better interface.

I'm not a UI designer, never claimed to be. In fact if my 30-year career as a software developer has a consistent thread running through it, it's staying as far as possible from UI.

But if you actually read my comment, you'll see that much of it was pointing out that his description of how the UI works is factually incorrect. Makes me wonder if he actually uses Gmail.

Re:Google wish list

[unrtst]

I'm not certain, but I strongly suspect you are both right.
Okian Warrior noted several things that I thought were true, such as select all only selecting the messages displayed on the screen, and requiring you to go to the next page and then select all those, repeating ad nauseam. I've done that a few times, and I'd surely remember if there was an easy second click to actually select all messages in that collection. Google probably updated Gmail with that additional feature/fix/whatever.

The trashcan on the main message list was probably added later as well. They already had a dropdown of actions to apply to selected messages, so they probably assumed the separate trash icon was not needed. The fact that they don't include the trash icon on the message list until a message is selected is its own problem - a new-ish UI trend (or resurgance of a past trend) to hide things that can't be used at the moment, instead of de-emphasizing them (greyed out options, or strikethrough, or similar). In a normal email client, a "delete" or trash action on the main message list makes sense because there is almost always at least one message selected. Google changed that by nature of a single click anywhere on the message index opening that message, rather than a double click... so you can't easily select a message (must click the little checkbox instead).

Whether or not those ended up being good ideas in the context of browser based email, I don't know... but it's certainly inconsistent.

Install all five

[Anonymous Coward]

and start sending all your classified corporate data to Google today!

Still waiting for ORDER BY

[xaosflux]

Really Google - addons? I've been waiting since the first web keyword introduction for a simple to implement 'ORDER BY' command. I've embraced the "search don't file" mailbox management style, but lack of ORDER BY output is nuts.

I just want the Hangout Effects Add-On back

[xxxJonBoyxxx]

I miss the days when I could play sad-trombone/happycheer sounds until management would leave or cut short the meeting.

"Surface your go-to app"

[OhSoLaMeow]

Huh? Is this some secret M$ subliminal message? Or text-to-speech gone awry?
Let this surface as fair warning.

Productivity tools vs actually getting stuff done

[93 Escort Wagon]

I used to leave my mail open all the time, be logged into chat (a former boss actually required it!), etc. - in all ways trying to stay as connected as possible at all times, in the name of collaboration and productivity.

What I've learned, though, over the years... once I started turning those things off for much of the day, I actually started getting work done. I have co-workers who are always logged into Slack and swear it's helping them work - but it sure seems like they aren't actually talking about work matters, 90% of the time.

I actually use Trello, but don't integrate it with much. I set due dates sparingly, and those are incorporated into my calendar - but mostly I log into Trello, look at the list, make a note, then close it again and get back to work.

Now, if only I'd quit checking Slashdot...

If you spend a lot of time in your inbox...

[AKCoder]

You are doing it wrong.

What about Inbox?

[hackel]

I don't understand Google's strategy at all. It pushed us all to move to Google Inbox, and then basically just left it alone, without really expanding its feature set. Now it's adding new features to the old Gmail. What is going on? It's hard to comprehend their strategy, though I shouldn't be surprised with their track record. Google really just needs to combine the two products, perhaps adding an "Inbox" mode to Gmail. Perhaps this is laying the groundwork for that, and Inbox could be coming as a future add-on?

Lotus Notes (Domino) Functionality Finally

[Anonymous Coward]

What was old is new again! I miss building LOB applets in Lotus Notes. Now with Google I can and because it is all shiny (until it isn't) we can get shit done..

Gmail for business email?

[DogDude]

Why in the hell would anybody use Gmail for work email? Email is absurdly cheap. Why would somebody give away all of their work-related information for $2/month? No matter what line of work somebody is in, it seems like a very very bad idea.

Re:Gmail for business email?

[Hulfs]

Because you use Google's G Suite for work and pay them to be your email provider.

Email is not absurdly cheap when you have to provide your own hosting hardware, make sure it stays online w/ 5+ 9's availability and provide near infinite inbox sizes. For $10/month/user you get all that from Google...plus access to their other apps (Drive, Docs, Sheets, etc).

G Suite Business accounts are not data-mined.

https://support.google.com/goo...

Meh. It's past time to say... FUCK GOOGLE.

[Anonymous Coward]

Go signup at protonmail or something.

No, thank you.

[Anonymous Coward]

I will continue to use Fastmail as I have since 2002. I've encountered nothing better since then and I try most of them, even the paid ones.

Stop it

[DarkRookie]

Stop fucking around with Gmail. Its your only product that is worth half a damn.

Re:Stop it

[DogDude]

Your data is the product. GMail is just the tool they use to harvest the product.

Thanks sucker!

[Anonymous Coward]

I just registered all of those domains!