Google rolled out a complete overhaul of its Gmail app for Apple Inc.’s iPhone and iPad on Monday. Now, it looks just like Gmail for Android. The updated iOS app is easier to use and has a cleaner, more modern design than before. The biggest improvement is arguably Gmail’s new found speediness. It’s noticeably faster at refreshing and opening messages, thanks to under-the-hood reworking. While this is the first top-to-bottom reboot of the Gmail iOS app in about four years, according to Google, it’s effectively the same as the Gmail app that has been running on Android for the last two years. Bringing iOS and Android Gmail apps into into stylistic and feature parity is a long overdue move for Google. Historically, it has favored its Android apps with new features and cosmetic changes. However, this year it launched several apps—including Duo and Allo—for Android and iOS at the same time. Among the new-to-iOS features is “undo send.” After you send an email, a black bar appears at the bottom of the screen with an “undo” button. Tap it and Gmail pulls the message back. It won’t show up in the recipient’s inbox, and you can continue editing a draft. The capability only exists for about seven seconds, though, so you have to think quick. Among the other improvements: The search box in Gmail offers spelling suggestions and results quicker than before, and you can now swipe across a message—left or right—to quickly archive or delete a message. (You choose which you prefer in settings.) Agencies
