Gmail recently added two new features to its desktop site that will soon be available on its Android services: block and unsubscribe. One has to wonder why this is the first we’re hearing of these options from Gmail. Other email providers have offered similar features for some time now. Maybe Gmail is just attempting to do them better.
GMAIL FEATURES: UNSUBSCRIBE
The unsubscribe feature is certainly a nice simplification from the string of hurdles you usually have to jump through in order to get certain senders out of your inbox. Instead of going through the sender’s unsubscribe link, usually hidden in fine print at the bottom of your emails (if it’s even that accessible), you can now click an “unsubscribe” button right at the top of the message, next to the sender’s address. It’s a one-stop shop that lets Gmail know not to include any future emails from that address in your inbox.
BLOCK
Similarly, the “block” option allows you to reroute certain contacts straight into your spam folder, even if they aren’t totally spam. This one is ideal for anyone you don’t really want to report as sending offensive or harassing content, but whose messages you just don’t ever want to see. You can undo the block at anytime in your settings, if it’s maybe just a passing frustration.
AND NONE FOR IPHONE OS, BYE
The new features are already available on Gmail’s desktop site and they will be rolled out onto Android “over the next week.” But Google basically has no plans to add the features to their iPhone app–no ETA, hardly any comments in response to questions, nothing. The nature of the delay is likely a trite little commentary on the two companies’ longstanding status as fierce competitors in the tech world. It would be very surprising if Google just never brought the updates to iOS in any form.
Most Gmail users are more intrigued by the new Inbox app than by the feature updates. In particular, the app feels redundant, given that Gmail services have long been perfectly accessible on mobile operating systems using existing email apps. Maybe Google has plans to overhaul their mobile email services by ceasing to invest in the universal options, in favor of developing a consolidated app (which would be Inbox) of the highest quality. It’s a risky idea, but if it works, it could put a little power back in Google’s hands.
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Gmail Unveils Two New Features For Android
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