In an attempt to spruce up the existing mobile Gmail site, Google has added a few new features for those who don’t have a dedicated app on their handset. While the updates a rather minimal, all are welcomed, as they bring the web app a step closer to that of a native application.
Google has now implemented a new way to refresh your inbox, which likely won’t look unfamiliar to iPhone and Android users. Instead of the dedicated refresh button on the corner, Big G has opted that the pull-to-refresh option was in order. The implementation is smart and alleviates the need to dedicate an icon for refreshing your mail. This option is only for all iOS devices and BlackBerry Playbook users, it seems. We can imagine Google left its own mobile OS out since Android phones already have their own, very capable, Gmail application.
The other updates for mobile Gmail aren’t nearly as interesting as the new way to refresh your mail, but we’ll take them anyway. Gmail for mobile now features higher resolution icons, as well as new screen transitions when entering or existing an email. The high-resolution icons should appear sharper for those working on a tablet device or high-resolution display on a smartphone, like the iPhone’s Retina display. While transitions may be a bit useless to some, it will just add a little more umph to the web-app, making it appear snappier and more smooth.
While there’s nothing groundbreaking about the newest updates, the new tweaks will bring Gmail for mobile closer to that of a native application, while making it a faster and smoother experience as a whole.
[Via: GmailBlog]