Google Cleans Up Gmail App With An All-White Redesign (engadget.com)

While Gmail on the web was significantly redesigned last year, the app for Android and iOS stayed relatively unchanged, with the exception of an update last year that removed the bold colors in favor of an almost entirely white look. Engadget reports that a redesigned Gmail for mobile is starting to roll out today and it will be available to all Android and iOS users in the coming weeks. Engadget reports: Functionally, the new Gmail mobile app isn't wildly different than what came before. There's a button in the lower-right corner to compose a new email, just like before -- it's just white with a multi-colored "plus" sign, the same glyph that shows up in Gmail and Drive on the web. The iconic top red bar is now white, and the whole top area is a search bar; the old app required tapping a smaller target to get into search. Finally, there's a shortcut right to the account switcher on the main page. Previously, switching accounts required opening the sidebar, but now that option is front and center.

A few features that came to the web version of Gmail make their way to mobile today. Probably most recognizable is that attachment previews will show up below the messages, making it easier to both find messages with attachments and get a sense of the content. For those that prefer to see more messages, Google also has "comfortable" and "compact" density options that remove attachment previews and avatars, respectively. The large red phishing warnings that Gmail on the web shows also now show up in the app. Visually, it looks just like you'd expect if you've tried any of Google's recent mobile apps -- it's basically all white, with the new Google font throughout.

Comments

White?

[LordKronos]

Wow, perfect. So not only does it look more bland**, but now that phones are beginning to move to oleds we get MORE white in the UI? Good thinking!!!

**not sure why everyone seems to think it's good to not having lines denoting the borders of anything, whether it be separators between emails or the edges of a button.

Re:White?

[Anonymous Coward]

Simple: Google is shit at UI, and most users are too dumb to notice.

There's a reason Android is so popular with the plebs.

Modern UX design

[ArhcAngel]

The current crop of UX designers seem to be following the philosophy of listen to what your audience wants and make sure to avoid that at all cost. We've gone from vivid intricate icons to stick figures in shades of grey!

Re:Modern UX design

[I75BJC]

I agree! Gmail was "perfect" for my email habits and likes but Gmail insists on changing things on a regular basis. It gets worse (shittier) with each "new" "improvement". In past years, I could keep the old version that I liked but I guess too many people, like me, thought the old version was good enough not to want to change. Then Gmail started forcing me to change whether I wanted to or not. Thankfully, on my iOS devices, I can skip the changes by staying with iOS' own Mail application. Gmail had a wonderful product years ago but they keep trying to improve it by making it worse. Yuck!

Re:Modern UX design

[Dutch Gun]

It's no good. I can still vaguely see some shapes of some controls, and there's an unsightly pile of black text to the left. The UX designers need to keep polishing until everything is a pure, beautiful, white form, unblemished by unsightly distractions.

Re: Modern UX design

[Anonymous Coward]

They forced me to upgrade from Gmail to inbox on my phone now I'm getting messages saying I'm going to be forced back to Gmail. Google's biggest problem is they're always changing. No consistency. This isn't about not embracing good change, it's just they seem to have no fuckng idea what they're doing. Google +, hangouts and all the other chat apps they've released and switched and flicked between since Google talk. I was a regular hangouts user and the whole debabcleeant I stopped using their platform. Partly because I just found it easier to use something more stable and partly because everyone else I use left in droves. I currently have 3 people I could actually talk to and get a response in hangouts and we all prefer telegram. Of course there are privacy reasons we all left Google for encrypted chats, sick of having our data farmed and used against us to try a different steal our money without even knowing, but the lack of stability certainly had more of an effect.

Re:Modern UX design

[mentil]

Still... un... clean!...
*continues frantically scrubbing the UI as it bleeds*

Thank God for IMAP

[Kunedog]

n/t

Traditional UX design: Change things

[aberglas]

Whatever it was, make it different.

This is not only a method that ensures work for UI designers. It genuinely works. Most people will recognize "new" vs "old", and want "new". "New" just looks better than "old". Always.

Eventually UIs will have white text on pale grey backgrounds before the next crop of designers develops green text on a black background and we will all know that this new green screen design is the pinnacle of novel user experience development.

I can't be the only one :(

[Fly Swatter]

I can't be the only one that finds a dark background and white text easier on the eyes. It is just more comfortable. Modern UIs are like staring at a bright light bulb all day. I guess they are fine outdoors and under bright lights, but in normal inside lighting conditions, especially in a home all white is just annoying. Paper products are like this because paper is inherently light, and reflected light works well there. Computers are shining lights into your eyes, it is a completely different medium - I wish manufacturers would realize this - they killed off paper now stop trying to imitate it.