Gmail’s Mobile Web App: Floaty Bars, Spinners and Gears

The Google gurus have released a major revision to their mobile web app for Android phones and iPhone/iPod touches running OS 2.2.1. This newest incarnation sports an improved interface, more consistent performance, faster message access and it supports robust batch actions like archiving multiple messages.



Using Google's Gears, email is cached on the device and then actions (like starring, deleting or archiving) are applied to the cached version of the message immediately but sent to Gmail's servers in the background whenever there is a network connection available. So, if you're dealing with a slow connection speed you can still access recently read messages or compose mail.

One of the most obvious improvements is the "floaty bar" (Google-speak) which is essentially an animated smart dropdown menu that keeps up with you as you scroll allowing you to mark, read and star email no matter how long the list.



To make mobile life even simpler, Google has provided a nifty method to create a button on your device's home screen so your Gmail account is easily accessible without having to fire up an Internet browser first.

For more useful apps, see the mobile apps review sites. For a little more tech news, stick with the blogs:

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