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Google kills Gmail app for BlackBerry

By: , IntoMobile
Wednesday, November 9th, 2011 at 7:56 AM
BlackBerry-gmail

Google has announced that they’re ceasing support for their dedicated BlackBerry Gmail app in favour of working on working on their web apps. While you’ll still be able to use the app if you’ve already got it installed, it won’t be available for download after November 22.

It might be easy to cast this as yet another doom-and-gloom story for RIM, but siding with the web is very much in-line with Google’s ongoing development strategy, and besides, Gmail integration with the native BlackBerry e-mail client is about as good as you could expect. Thanks to a plug-in launched awhile back, you can star items, archive e-mails, view threaded conversations, and add labels within the familiar BlackBerry interface. Beyond that, BlackBerry Internet Service has tight two-way sync for Gmail contacts and calendar, which has made the Gmail app fairly redundant for some time.

While the Gmail app for BlackBerry smartphones might not be particularly missed, the best we’ve seen on the BlackBerry PlayBoook tablet is a preloaded browser shortcut. Honestly, the web app for tablets is seriously lacking. You can’t attach files to e-mails, perform advanced searches, or drill down into the contacts section to add or edit entries. Sure, RIM might get around to doing their own stand-alone native apps sometime in February, but I’m going to guess that after BlackBerry decided to shack up with Bing and aggressively poach Android apps for the PlayBook, we aren’t going to see Google investing a lot of time and effort into BBX.

[via]

About The Author

Simon Sage

Simon Sage’s education largely surrounded writing, technology and online community, leading him to begin his blogging career at www.BlackBerryCool.com and to quickly discover a vibrant and active community surrounding BlackBerry and mobile technology. In exploring RIM’s platform, he has learned what enterprises are looking for in mobility as well as what makes the innocuous BlackBerry so appealing to them. Recently Simon’s been covering RIM’s gradual move into an already-crowded consumer market, and the impact of burgeoning challengers, such as the iPhone, as well as long-time leaders, like Nokia, on BlackBerry’s advancement. With plenty of content under his belt, Simon will be branching off a bit to see what other smartphone manufacturers are working on while still using BlackBerry as a barometer. At IntoMobile, you can count on his posts being even-handed, well-informed and thought-out.

  • Israel Leite

    It’s all good, just use LOGICMAIL :-D fck blackberry locks.

  • Dlgreen84

    I hate them for doing this.  I grew to love that app and just recently did a wipe and reinstallation of my software due to some glitches and now i can’t get my gmail app back?! Its infuriating to say the least.  The silly plug in for blackberry doesn’t make viewing my different gmail accounts as easy as the old app.  I have gmail for work, school and my independent contracting business and now its all convoluted.  so annoying! AHh…ok, I’m done with the rant.  Gmail gets my first boo