Google adds new 'Confidential mode' to Gmail on Android to help you protect the sensitive data you share.

Technology makes life a whole lot easier when it comes to sharing data. But it's not without risk. Google is kind-of well aware of that and is introducing a new 'Confidential mode' in Gmail on Android. A new mode that will give users more control on the data they share with others.

Google has started rolling out 'Confidential mode' worldwide and to start using it, bring up the compose email window in Gmail. Tap the three vertical dots in the top-right corner of the screen and choose 'Confidential Mode'. Set an expiration between 1 day to 5 years. Once 'Confidential Mode' is activated, Gmail will prevent the receiver from copying, forwarding, and printing the email and its attachments. However, the receiver can take a screenshot and photo of your emails and attachments. Google also warns about malicious programs on the receiver's device that may still be able to copy and edit the data you're sharing.

Gmail users can also choose for a passcode or SMS passcode be sent to the receiver. Google will handle that for you. Just send the email and the receiver will be notified of your intention to share an email with them. The receiver must sign in with a Google account to view the email and attachments in a browser with the expiration date at the top. The default expiration date is 1 week. Additionally, the sender can revoke access at any time in their own inbox.

'Confidential mode' is a useful feature when sharing data such as health records, business plan or a copy of your passport. While it's an additional layer of protection, bear in mind that it is not entirely fool-proof.

'Confidential Mode' is already being pushed out to users. Just be patient if you do not see it yet, it's on the way. IF you do not use Gmail, you can download it free in Google Play Store.

Microsoft Outlook for Android quietly gets a 'Delete' button in the notification area.

Microsoft has quietly added a much-requested feature to Outlook for Android which lets users quickly delete an email right in the notification area. Now, Outlook users will get the options to Archive, Delete, and reply to emails in Android's notification area without having to open the Outlook app first. Prior to this update, users could only archive and reply to messages. 

The addition of a 'Delete' button to the Outlook notification is very useful for situations where the provided preview is more than enough and you don't need to take any further action on the email. I for one surely welcome the 'Delete' button.

I'm not sure if this feature is being deployed through an update or is just a server-enabled feature. Either way, you can always download Outlook for Android in Google Play Store.

Microsoft adds external image blocking to Outlook for Android.

Microsoft added a "Block External Images" feature in Outlook for Android. This feature, once activated, will prevent images in emails sent by people, not in your contacts from downloading automatically. Microsoft says "Block external images setting will not block images that are embedded in the email as attachments, including most emails sent from friends and family."

While not a security threat, blocking images in emails protects users privacy as these emails can sometimes include references to images hosted on the internet and can be used to track whether someone has read an email. All in all, this blocking feature is a welcome addition if you value your privacy. 

By default, the image blocking setting is disabled. In order to activate, tap the hamburger menu - the three horizontal bars at the top left - then tap the settings icon at the bottom left. Tap your email account or any other email if you have several accounts and toggle the blocking setting. It turns blue when activated.

This update is already available to download in Google Play Store.

Yahoo Mail brings World Cup game schedules and scores at the top of your Inbox.

Yahoo Mail has a treat for football fans around the world in the latest update for Android devices. Users of Yahoo Mail will now be able to follow games scores live in their Inbox. Yahoo added a band at the top of the Inbox that shows the teams, games schedule of the day and scores. The band can easily be minimized. The word 'Live' appears in red for ongoing games. 

If users need more info, a tap on each of the games - live or not - takes them to Yahoo Sports page for more details. There, users will get info such as game statistics, game stream and join the conversation with other football fans. A little envelope icon at the top right of the page takes the user back to Yahoo Mail.

I'm watching the game between Egypt and Uruguay as I write this and I'm just curious whether Yahoo Mail will notify me if the score evolves. I'll update this post if it does.

The update also includes the following:

• Now you can see your messages separated by date.
• You can also select all messages from a particular date range and delete, archive, or organize at once.
• Find messages faster with suggestions as you search.
• Bug fixes and performance enhancements.

Yahoo Mail users can update the app in Google Play Store.

Microsoft Outlook for Android supports viewing inline images and opening of attachments in Calendar events.

Microsoft is finally letting users view inline images in Outlook Calendar on Android. Additionally, Microsoft Outlook Calendar also supports opening the attachments or viewing them inline. The software giant says this can be done from the event details.

While this new feature sounds great, in my opinion, it only highlights Microsoft Outlook shortcomings. First, this a long overdue feature. Secondly, the app still does not support attaching files directly in the app on Android. Sure, this can be done in the email part, but it is still not possible to rely entirely on the Calendar section to get things done and not being able to add an attachment to an event on my devices is a bummer.

Hopefully, Microsoft will bring adding attachments to calendar events soon. Until then, grab today's update in the Play Store.

Finally, Microsoft Outlook for Android lets you easily mark messages as spam and empty spam folder with one tap.

Microsoft Outlook for Android got updated today and this time it’s not just the usual weekly updates which also includes the usual performance improvements and bug fixes. This time, Microsoft added a new feature that I find to be very useful. Actually, it’s two. Kind-of.

And it was about time. Finally, the Outlook app gets a ‘Move to spam’ option in the app menu. Before this update, users only had the ‘Move to folder’ option to move emails they considered spam to the spam folder. Now, all they need to do is select one or more messages in their Inbox and tap the new ‘Move to spam’ to get the job done. And there’s more.

Microsoft also made it easier for users to empty the Spam folder with one tap. As can be seen in the screenshot above, Microsoft added an ‘Empty Spam’ button at the top-right of the app. I check my Spam folder every day and it was a pain to clear it manually, which required a series of steps. That’s history now. That said, it was about time for Microsoft to add such a simple feature to Outlook.

Download the update in Google Play Store.

Yahoo Mail now supports Android 8.0 Oreo, photos and documents Smart Views.

Back in June Yahoo Mail for Android introduced Smart Views, a new feature that gave users easy access to Smart Views and their recent searches right beneath the Search bar. The app made it easier to filter the searches by category without having to manually navigate to the default folder category: People, Travel, Shopping, Social, Finance. Today’s update adds more features to Smart Views.

Users will now be able to see every photos and documents they sent as attachment right in Smart Views. This applies to all attachments sent and received within the app. A nice addition which will avoid having to hunt down the email with a particular attachment. The change log does say anything about the number of attachments that will be listed in Smart Views and for how long they will remain there. But this feature is very helpful. There’s a similar feature in Outlook 2016 on the PC and I use it quite often.

This update also makes Yahoo Mail compatible with Android Oreo 8.0. Here again, Yahoo does not say to what extent, but I assume users will see features like group notifications, for example.

If you’re a Yahoo Mail user, make sure you get the update in Google Play.

Yahoo Mail on Android updated with easy access to Smart Views.

Yahoo Mail users are in for a treat today with an update to their favorite email service on Android. If you belong to this group, head over to Google Play Store to update the app and see how the Search bar inside the app has been improved on.

After applying the update, Yahoo Mail users will have easy access to Smart Views and their recent searches right beneath the Search bar. As shown in the screenshot above, the app makes it easier to filter the searches by category without having to manually navigate to the default folder category: People, Travel, Shopping, Social, Finance.

Check out the update in Google Play Store.

Apps update: Dropbox supports CSV file previews; Inbox by Gmail gets undo action inside notification.

A few apps in Google Play Store got minor updates, so I’m gathering the story for each update under one post. 

First in the list is popular Cloud storage service provider Dropbox. This is more of a fix in that the app can now handle CSV files preview within the app itself. This is all there is to this update, at least according to the change log. Get it in Google Play Store.

Inbox by Gmail also received what sounds like a nice feature. The change log states that “You can now undo an action taken inside a notification”. I have yet to give this a try. But basically, if you selected to delete an email in the notification tray and want to get it back to your inbox, an undo button will let you do that. Get Inbox by Gmail in Google Play Store.

Happy update.

Gmail lets you reply to emails quickly with Smart Reply.

I'm a longtime user of Inbox by Gmail, another Gmail client by Google for both Android and iOS. One of my favorite features is Smart Reply, which comes in very handy when replying to emails on the phone while on the move. Google says that Smart Reply "already drives 12 percent of replies in Inbox on mobile." If you haven't made the move to Inbox, as from the today, you will be able to take advantage of Smart Reply in Gmail. 

This new feature will provide three responses based on the email you received, thus helping quickly and easily reply to emails. "Once you've selected one, you can send it immediately or edit your response starting with the Smart Reply text. Either way, you're saving time." As almost every Google app these days, Smart Reply relies on machine learning technology to give you the best responses the more you use it. Smart Reply for Gmail will start roll out in English first, followed by Spanish in the coming weeks.

Download or update Gmail in Google Play Store or Inbox by Gmail.

Keep track of events, newsletters and links right in Inbox by Gmail.

Inbox by Gmail is my default email client on my Nexus and it's an app that keeps getting better with time. Today Google added some nice features to the app to better manage events, newsletters and links. You might be wondering how an email client lets you manage events in your Inbox. It does that simply by grouping together every emails related to particular events or meetings and if there's a change, you will see a comprehensive overview in your Inbox, in one place. It's as simple as that.

The second feature is the ability to preview newsletters you're subscribed to. Click on an article and a separate window opens for you to read it and the newsletter will minimize to save space in your Inbox.

The third addition is a lot like a 'read it later' feature. I often email articles to myself to be read later.In this update, Google added 'Save to Inbox'. Instead of emailing a link, simply use the 'Save to Inbox' to save links for later. Obviously, all saved links will be grouped together in one place in your Inbox. This feature is available on Android or iOS and on the web with the new Inbox by Gmail Chrome extension.

The update is not available in every region yet (mine included), but it sure is coming to your Google Play store.

Source: Google

Microsoft adds Android Wear watch support to its Outlook app.

Thanks to my Zenwatch, I can quickly read my Gmail messages on my wrist without having to reach for my phone and today Microsoft is introducing the same feature to Outlook for Android and users will be able to read their Outlook emails on their wrist and reply with pre-set messages or voice dictation.

A vibration will alert me when a new email arrives. Swiping up will show me the content, while swiping to the left gives me the option to delete, schedule the email to be read later, and as I wrote above, to reply with either voice or pre-set messages. The one feature that I found missing is "open on phone" icon, which opens the app for you on the phone after you get it out of your pocket.

Making Outlook Android Wear friendly is a great addition for me because Outlook is my main email client. That's where most of my important emails go to. Prior to this update, I had to fish my phone out of my pocket to read and take action on my emails because my watch would only show a new email with little information about its content.

If you own an Android Wear watch and use Microsoft Outlook for Android, head over to Google Play store and update the app. The change log does not mention anything else, so the update is there for all to download and maybe even have you consider getting a smartwatch.

Google adds new snooze features to Inbox By Gmail.

I made Inbox by Gmail my favorite default email client on my Nexus 6 shortly after it was released and one of my favorite features that motivated the switch is email snoozing. When you thought that snoozing was limited to calendar events and reminders, Google brought it to the Inbox so you can be reminded to read it later because not all emails require your immediate attention. Originally Inbox By Gmail included 4 snoozes: Later today, Tomorrow, Next week and Someday. Two more snoozes have been added, bringing the total to 6 that Google hopes will help you save more time: Later this week and This weekend.

The second feature that improves the snoozing experience is the ability to snooze to specific weeekend days and these include Thursday - Friday, Friday - Saturday, Saturday - Sunday. These new options come in handy for those countriers where the weekend are not Saturdays and Sundays.

The update is already available in Google Play Store for you to download. Happy snoozing :-)

Outlook for Android lets you set Mondays & Saturdays as first day of the week; brings tinted background to flagged messages.

Microsoft Outlook for Android keeps getting better and better and as a Windows Phone MVP I can tell that Outlook for Windows Phone has a lot of catch up to do. But that's not the point of this article. This is about the update that Microsoft published to Google Play store today with some quite nice  and simple features.

Top of the list is the ability for users to set the first day of the week to Saturdays and Mondays instead of just Sundays. Not everyone has the same routine or maybe this is intended to meet some religious needs. The first day of the week can be changed in the app settings.

Microsoft also made it easier to spot flagged messages in your busy and cluttered Inbox. In addition to the little flag icon, Microsoft added a tinted background to help find those flagged messages easily.

The last feature in the change log is about email scheduling. This is not a feature I use at all on my devices, but the change log says that "more options are now available when scheduling an email, including schedule to this weekend or next week."

Get the update from Google Play store and enjoy the great Outlook experience Microsoft has to offer on Android.

Outlook for Android now lets you search for colleagues right form the People tab.

Outlook for Android

Microsoft has updated its Outlook app for Android today. While there's nothing for end users in this one, pro users gets all the love this time. If your company has deployed Exchange and Office 365, then you will be able to search for colleagues email address right from the people tab. This addition should make things a little easier for road warriors. Check out the update in Google Play store.

Google introduces Smart Reply in Inbox by Gmail.

There are times where I find myself with a new email on my phone that requires an immediate answer, not necessarily a long reply, but a short one and these situation very often arises when I'm moving around in a crowded environment and makes typing very difficult. Enter Smart Reply in Inbox by Gmail.

In an update that will be made available later this week, users of Inbox by Gmail will be able to easily reply to messages on the go. Smart Reply will suggest three short responses based on the email you get. "And for those emails that require a bit more thought, it gives you a jump start so you can respond right away." How does it know which responses to propose? 

Here's what the blog post says about the background work that makes Smart Reply possible: "There's actually a lot going on behind the scenes to make Smart Reply work. Inbox uses machine learning to recognize emails that need responses and to generate the natural language responses on the fly. If you're interested in how Smart Reply works, including how researchers got machine learning to work on a data set that they never saw, you can read more about it on the Google Research Blog." 

Again, Smart Reply will be rolling out later this week to Android and iOS in English only for the time being.The blog post does not say anything about availability in other languages. If you haven't tried Inbox by Gmail yet, check it out in Google Play Store.

Source: Gmail blog

Microsoft Outlook for Android now lets you swipe between messages.

Microsoft has updated its Outlook client for Android with the ability to swipe between messages instead of having to close them, go back to the Inbox to open the next email. A fast and more convenient way to move to the next email. It all depends on your preference. I always delete emails after reading them. Outlook then takes me back to my Inbox automatically. With this new swipe feature, it will be convenient to move to the next for the very few emails I choose to keep for follow up.

Grab the update in Google Play store.