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.
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.
Direct Share is a feature that Google made available as an API recently that makes sharing stuff to individuals easier. Let me explain. Before Direct Share, the sharing experience on Android and other mobile platforms, consisted of tapping Share, then pick an app before selecting a person or group. With Direct Share, people you email the most or send messages to very often shows up first in the sharing options, right above the standard list of apps that we are accustomed to. Many apps in the store have already taken advantage of this API, namely WhatsApp and Outlook, at least on my device.
Google today released an update to Inbox by Gmail that includes the direct share feature for devices running Android Marshmallow and above. People that you email the most will now be listed at the top of the sharing list so you can quickly send them stuff without first opening the Inbox app. Again, a very nice feature that will likely find its way in other apps as well and may bring a crowd to the sharing list. Only time will tell.
Download the update for Inbox by Gmail in Google Play Store.
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
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 :-)
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
