Google Overhauls the Gmail App with Material Theme

The new revamped look of Gmail was rolled out recently. The update, which is now available for Android mobile user, will be in accord with the desktop web version that was rolled out in April last year. Last year’s changes were based on machine learning powered features. This year it is going beyond the Google Material theme inspired from its desktop counterpart. The tech mogul stated that it would roll out all the latest features gradually until the month of April.

The mobile version of the app will be a visual delight for the users. The fresh new look will be available after updating to 9.1 version from current 8.x. The new look is focused on using color schemes that make the Gmail look less cluttered and more organized.

After the update go to its Settings, choose General Settings and then Conversion list density – Setting>General Settings> Conversion list density.

After the setup, the updated Gmail app welcomes the user where it immediately pops up the ‘choose a view’ option. The users can select between Default, Comfortable and Compact.

‘Default‘ look will list out the attachments to the email straight in the primary inbox view. There will be a pill-shaped indicator to indicate the file type with its icon and name, of the attached file (photo, document, etc.) in the mail. The users can directly view the attachment with a single click without having to open the mail. This feature remarkable as it provides quick access to tickets, entry passes, etc.

‘Comfortable’ look is almost the same as the Default look. Here all types of attachments are denoted by the standard paperclip icon in the upper right corner of the mail next to the time, day and date stamp.

‘Compact’ theme has further removed padding, and the design is closest to the web version. For those who want to replicate the web density of the app on their mobiles should choose this theme. It has replaced profile images with checkboxes to enable bulk selection.

The Material Theme of Gmail is ditching the red bar visible on the top; instead, it will have a white search field. The new search field shall have hamburger button to its left and profile icon to its right. The location for switching between the accounts will change from left side of the app to an avatar on the back of search bar. Users can very conveniently create and manage new accounts or switch between the existing ones.

There is a ‘Recent labels’ section above the ‘All labels’ section. The Recent labels section shows the latest three folders that were opened by the user. The addition of some nice animations and overall look of the new Gmail is welcoming.

Sara is a Microsoft Office expert and her been working in the technical industry since 2002. As a technical expert, Sara has written technical blogs, manuals, white papers, and reviews for many websites such as office.com/setup.