This article was published on May 24, 2013

Do these screenshots reveal a heavily revamped Gmail for mobile and Web is on the way?


Do these screenshots reveal a heavily revamped Gmail for mobile and Web is on the way?

Gmail users could be seeing the service getting a redesign soon. Following reports by Android Police about leaked screenshots of the update during Google I/O, we’re also hearing that the email service will feature five tabs to categorize emails for better organization. These changes will be available for not only on the Web, but also for iOS and Android devices.

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A source shared with us that the new Gmail will have a few default tabs as part of its new theme. Categories that will be listed are Main, Social, Offers, Notifications, and Forums.

We’re told that with Main, users will find it for emails from friends, family members, and for communication that can’t be sorted into another place. In Social, all messages relating to social media, including emails from Zynga, Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, and Google+, will be lumped into this category.

If you receive a lot of email from retailers, daily deal sites, and other merchants, Gmail will assign those to the Offers category. Important emails about bills that need to be paid, dining reservations, and flight alerts will be included under Notifications. Lastly, if you happen to be associated with any mailing lists or forums, those emails will be found under Forums.

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If it’s to be believed, these tabs are an enhanced way at filtering and labeling the email that we receive. In a way, this is something similar to what AOL did with its Alto application, except it’s not a desktop application.

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Earlier today, Android Police discovered that at Google’s I/O developer conference, leaked screenshots showed that Gmail was going to be getting a new navigation drawer.

In the above image, you can see that there’s a three-line button in the top-left, which Android Police referenced as “hamburger” and when tapped, a menu will appear from the left, showing not only labels, but also the categories that we described earlier. Categories can also be found within Gmail’s mobile app inbox.

We have reached out to Google to verify the authenticity of these images. A spokesperson tells us that the company doesn’t comment on rumor or speculation.

If true, users could expect to see these features begin to roll out over the next couple of weeks. Of course, should this update not be suitable for users, Google is giving them the option of reverting back to the current version — albeit probably for a short period of time.

Photo credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

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