Gmail is one of the most famous Google services, and millions of users around the world use it daily to view and manage their email, messages, work chats and collaborate with their co-workers.
Although it is a powerful and integrated platform, the web version of Gmail combines many services such as Google Chat, Meet, and Spaces in one interface, which makes the website congested, and difficult for users to access all the information and notifications on the Gmail website.
Fortunately, it looks like Google will fix this soon, as the company has announced a new interface for the Gmail web version, which will be available for testing starting next week.
“We’re introducing a new, integrated view for Gmail, making it easy to move between critical applications like Gmail, Chat, and Meet in one unified location,” said Google on a Workspace Updates blog post.
In the new interface, the dominant white in the current version of Gmail Web has been replaced by a grayish-blue color, while only white has been kept in the middle of the interface dedicated for viewing and composing emails, which got rounded top corners. This makes the web interface with a clean and non-distracting design, which will surely improve the productivity of the users.
At the top left of the interface, four buttons lead to various services integrated with Gmail: Mail, Meet, Chat, and Spaces. At the bottom right are pictures icons of the last people you've chatted with.
On the right side of the interface, there are buttons for Google Calendar, Keep, Tasks and Contacts, with an additional button for adding more Add-ons.
The new Gmail experience will include notification bubbles, making it easy to stay on top of what immediately needs your attention, according to Google. “When working in Chat and Spaces, you can view a full list of conversations and Spaces within a single screen, making it easier to navigate to and engage”, the company adds.
The new Gmail web interface will be available for users to try starting on February 8, 2022 (next Tuesday), when a notification will appear at the bottom of the Gmail website to allow the transition to the new Gmail email experience. Users can go back to classic Gmail via Settings.
Starting in April, all users will automatically move to the new interface, with the ability to return to the current (classic) Gmail Web interface until the end of the second quarter of 2022. After that date, the new interface will become the standard Gmail experience, with no option to return to the Gmail classic UI.
Around the same time, users will also start seeing the new streamlined navigation experience on Chat web (mail.google.com/chat), and they will no longer have the option to configure Google Chat to display on the right side of Gmail.
In the coming months, you will also see email and chat results when using the search bar, making it easier to find what you need by eliminating the need to search within a specific product.
The new Gmail web experience will be available for Google Workspace Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Frontline, and Non-profits, as well as G Suite Basic and Business customers. This experience will not be available to Google Workspace Essentials customers.
