Items tagged with Gmail
Controlling where your data goes is vital in online safety and security. Unwanted data leakage and breaches are the bane of an online person’s existence, and Google is looking to make the privacy more manageable. In the next few weeks, Google will be rolling out toggle controls for Gmail's smart features and personalization. Smart features, such as smart compose, smart reply, or reminders in Google Assistant for things are part of the incredibly useful toolkit Google provides. Being able to toggle them on and off is not new either, but it used to be more complicated. Following user privacy and user data control trends, Google is now making the choices and toggles easier to understand and...
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It has been over 16 years since Google first introduced Gmail, which remain in beta for several years. The overall Gmail experience has changed quite a bit since then (as has the web as a whole), and will continue to evolve with the times. In fact, the version of Gmail available to Android users is getting redesign, with some features already trickling out. The big additions to Gmail on Android are Google Chat and Google Meet. Interestingly enough, iOS users are getting first dibs on a new Meet tab, which will be widely available within the two weeks weeks and is "coming soon" to Android. The Meet tab highlights scheduled calls in a My Meetings list, and tapping on Meet URL from that view opens...
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In the rush to plug up security holes and introduce new features, it is not uncommon for Microsoft's updates to inadvertently break things. We have covered numerous instances of this over the past several weeks. Here is one more you can add to the pile—there is an apparent bug in Microsoft's Mail and Calendar app that is wreaking havoc on Gmail accounts. The Mail and Calendar app is a Universal Windows Program (UWP) app available in the Microsoft Store. It has mostly positive reviews, with a 4.4 star rating out of 5 stars from 2,059 people who have taken the time to vote. But like any program, it is not without the occasional issue, and this latest one is creating headaches for some people....
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Users of Gmail on Android devices may have noticed that there is an issue that prevents some from being able to empty their trash. The same flaw prevents some users from being able to empty their spam bin as well. Not all Android devices are impacted by the issue, but those who are have no "Empty trash now" or "Empty spam now" options on their devices. However, there is a workaround for those who are having this issue. The first workaround isn't ideal as it involves the user giving up on deleting spam or emptying their trash bin on the Android app and heading to the web app to perform the deeds. The other workaround for the issue involves rolling back to an earlier version of the Gmail app. This...
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Google has announced a change for Gmail that will allow users to send emails as attachments. The update enables users to drag and drop the email they want to attach to their new message. Another way to attach an email to a new email thread is to select the emails with the check boxes on the left of messages and then click the three dots at the top of the screen and choose "Forward as attachment." Replying to an existing thread is supported by using the pop-out reply button. Google says that it has heard from users that sometimes attaching emails makes more sense than forwarding separate emails. One example is in instances where users want to forward multiple messages related to a single topic....
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We are all looking to be more productive these days, but clicking through an endless number of emails and pages can definitely interrupt your workflow This past winter Google introduced dynamic emails for Gmail on the web to help users interact “dynamically” with their messages. Gmail dynamic emails are also now available for Gmail on Android and iOS. Google shared a preview of dynamic emails this past February and the feature began rolling out this past spring for Gmail on the web. Their accelerated mobile pages (AMP) for Email or “dynamic” emails allows companies and other senders to include web-like features and experiences directly in emails. The purpose of this feature...
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If you have a Gmail account and have had it for a long time, think about how many purchases you have made online and in stores where receipts have been sent to your email address. Google has had a tool in place inside Gmail that keeps track of all the purchases ever made with receipts that came to Gmail all in one place. The odd thing about this tool is that while Google told The Verge in a statement that the tool was meant to make it easier for users to keep track of all their purchases and subscriptions in one place, the tool was never publicized. Google pointed out that only you can see your purchase data and that the data can be deleted at any time. Users who have had a Gmail account for...
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Over the years Gmail has been through a lot of iterations and has gained a lot of cool features. Most recently Google updated the Gmail right-click menu to give it new functionality. Gmail updates have also removed features in the name of improving security with IFTTT integration being gutted last month. Google is celebrating the 15th anniversary of the launch of Gmail back in 2004. Google is talking up new features that are on the way that will keep the innovation coming. Smart Compose has gotten smarter since the feature launched and is now able to match your unique voice for composing email automatically. Google says that means if you like to start work emails with "Hey Team" that is what...
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For anyone who uses IFTTT (If This Then That), a free web-based service to create chains of simple conditional statements via applets, be aware that Gmail integration is about to be broken in a big way. Simply put, every IFTTT action and trigger for Gmail will stop working at the end of the month, save for "Send and email" and "Send yourself an email." Those are the only two functions that will remain. Everything else has been marked as "inactive," and as a result, many IFTTT applets that use those functions have already stopped working. The rest will join them on March 31. March 31 is when Google will implement previously announced changes to its API ecosystem. Unfortunately for IFTTT users,...
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Google has already given its popular Gmail service a visual and functional overhaul, having refreshed the design in April of last year. It's also steadily been adding new features, such as Smart Compose and a native offline mode. Perhaps even better, Google is adding more options to the right-click context menu in Gmail. This is going to impact all G Suite users, who will have access to a wealth of more options with right-click on a Gmail message. Users will be able to reply to or forward an email with a single click from the main page, search for all emails from a particular sender, search for all emails with the same subject (if conversation mode is turned off), open multiple emails in multiple...
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Google released the latest update to its popular Chrome web browser that has a notable change in feature set. This new version has a handful of improvements, but unfortunately it also removes one feature from the web browser. Starting with Chrome 72, you can no longer setup Chromecast devices using the Google Chrome web browser. You will still be able to stream content from your web browser to your Chromecast device, but you will first need to initialize and setup your Chromecast with an Android or iOS device. It's unclear why Google opted to remove this feature from the Chrome web browser, but as virtually everyone has a smartphone nowadays, it shouldn't pose a serious inconvenience. Google...
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Over the past year, Google has put considerable effort into bolstering its Gmail service on the web with new features and capabilities. For example, Gmail now utilizes machine learning techniques to help draft emails with Smart Compose, and it can remind you to follow up on emails that still need attention. That's all well and good, but what about the mobile experience? Rest assured, Google has not forgotten about Gmail on mobile devices. In a recent blog post, Gmail product manager Nikolus Ray explained that Gmail is getting a fresh new look on Android and iOS. "As part of the new design, you can quickly view attachments—like photos—without opening or scrolling through the conversation....
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In a letter sent to US lawmakers, Google reaffirmed its policy of allowing third-party app developers to access private information belonging to Gmail users, so long as the developers are upfront about the data they are collecting. It comes with the territory of allowing third-party apps to integrate with Gmail, as ultimately it is up to the users to make sure they fully understand exactly what permissions they are granting. The policy has drawn increased attention over the past several weeks, especially in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Back at the beginning of July, Google felt compelled to pen a blog post discussing security and privacy within Gmail. The company insisted that...
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Back in April, Google announced a redesign of the Gmail web interface along with some new features meant to provide more secure ways of sending emails. Now that users and security experts have had plenty of time to test out the new features, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is stating that Google is overselling its new Confidential Mode. The EFF says that there's really nothing "confidential" about these features at all and that nearly every aspect of its design is overrated or downright misleading to users. The civil liberties group says that for starters, the email still isn't end-to-end encrypted, giving Google the ability to still read the contents. In addition, while...
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Are you concerned about who might be reading your emails? You should be, especially if you allow third-party app developers to access your Gmail account, as many of them request. A recent report highlighted the extent of which third-party app developers can access private information, prompting Google to respond with what amounts to a soothing message saying, 'There, there, everything will be okay'. Google is not necessarily wrong, either, provided you are tech savvy enough to understand the risks associated with giving a third-party app certain permissions, and know how to take control of your privacy settings. The latter is not always straightforward—we have laid out the steps for preventing...
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A new report concerning Gmail has millions of users freaked out about who (or what) is reading their emails. According to a new report posted by the Wall Street Journal this week, Google has granted permission to third-party app developers to read your emails and sometimes a lot more. This might be somewhat confusing to some people, as Google stated last year that it would stop using computer algorithms to scan your email for personalization data. However, Google still grants that same access to third-party app developers. The email scanning comes into play when you give third-party apps permission to access your Gmail account details. Some people don't bother to read the permissions...
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Google is continually making improvements to its Gmail service, and more recently it introduced a couple of new features that many people will find handy. One of those is native offline mail support so that users don't have to rely on third-party software or any special extensions, and the other is Smart Compose, a predicative text feature that Google unveiled at its recent Google I/O event. Predicative text is not a new technology, it's just new to Gmail as a native feature. What it does is suggest words, phrases, and even entire sentences that fit within the context of what you're typing. "Smart Compose helps save you time by cutting back on repetitive writing, while reducing the chance of...
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Google has rolled out the long-awaited update for Gmail that users will find quite interesting. One of the main goals in the redesign was to allow users to do more without leaving their inbox. This means you can now do open photos and other attachments without having to open the email or scroll through long conversations. A new snooze button also allows you to put off emails you don’t have time for and you can access other Google apps like Calendar, Tasks, and Keep more easily. For those times when you are busy and forgot to reply to something important, Gmail will now "nudge" you with reminders to follow-up and respond to messages that appear next to the emails in your inbox. Smart Reply...
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Multiple Gmail users awoke Sunday morning to find that a bunch of spam that appeared to be sent from their accounts. The spam messages from their accounts were found in the sent items folder, but these weren’t emails that the users had sent themselves leaving many to think their accounts had been hacked. One user who found sent spam in his account wrote on the Google help forums, "My email account has sent out 3 spam emails in the past hour to a list of about 10 addresses that I don’t recongnize[sic]. I changed my password immediately after the first one, but then it happened again 2 more times. The subject of the emails is weight loss and growth supplements for men advertisements....
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There's been a lot of buzz surrounding Gmail this week. Earlier in the week, we learned that Google has a redesign of the Gmail web interface arrivingfor G Suite and regular users in the coming weeks. Yesterday, the redesign leaked early giving us an early look at what's in store for users. Today, we're learning that Google is looking to add a new feature to Gmail: self-destructing emails. That's right, Google is taking a page out of the "Mission Impossible" playbook with this feature, which should be helpful when sending sensitive or confidential information over email that could potentially end up in the wrong hands. As presented by TechCrunch, a small lock icon appears...
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It was just yesterday when we reported that Google will soon unveil a redesigned version of its Gmail web/desktop interface. Google is trying to bring the desktop/web version of Gmail closer to feature parity with the mobile app versions of Gmail available for iOS and Android. Today, we're getting our first glimpse at this new user interface courtesy of screenshots that were gathered by The Verge. Regular Gmail users will feel right at home with the redesign, as it doesn’t stray toofar from the current look. However, Google has made some tweaks to bring Gmail's user interface more in line with the corporate Material Design philosophy. The biggest visual change, however, is...
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For the millions of Gmail users around the globe, change is coming. In an email first sent to G Suite customers, Google revealed that it is working on a redesign for the web version of its Gmail client. According to the search giant, it will make available an Early Access Program for both G Suite and Gmail users with standard personal accounts. Google is being mum about what design changes it will make to improve the Gmail experience, but it is offering up these nuggets of information with regards to new features that will arrive with the resign. For starters, Google says that the new Gmail will provide easier access to G Suite apps like Google Calendar directly from Gmail UI. Smart Reply, which...
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