The new iPhone Gmail and Google Voice, how awesome?

Everyone knows how much I love Google, and mostly that is because they often give extra special attention to iPhone users, with lots of their services being Optimized for the iPhone. (Except when it comes to Google Latitude – coming soon to iPhone indeed!).

In fact, Google launched a specific Gmail interface just for iPhone users back in January 2008 (which somehow we missed to report because we were too excited about iGoogle for the iPhone – if only we’d known how that would end.)

Well, in that vein, they’ve done it again, completely revamping Gmail for iPhone and not only giving it a sleek new look, but also adding a lot of useful features. Here’s the new look:

gmailafter

There are a few new features you’ll see right off the bat, like the Floaty Navigation bar, but by far the most impressive new feature is it’s offline support. When you visit gmail.com in your browser it now uses database storage to save your messages on your iPhone itself. Which not only improves loading times, but this means you can Star, Archive, and even write messages while offline and Gmail will update once you’re connected again. For someone who doesn’t use Mobile Data at all (hem, hem, Me.) this is a big deal.

Now, the only caveat is that you do need to be running at least 2.2.1 for this update to work. I know there are a few people out there waiting to upgrade their firmware until 3.0 is available, but this new Gmail feature might make you think about grabbing 2.2.1 before 3.0 is out this summer.

Another thing I wanted to mention since we’re talking about Google, is an article that I’ve seen floating around about Google Voice coming to the iPhone, in App Form, shortly.

For some reason up until this news broke I had been blissfully unaware of the Google Voice (formerly Grand Central) service and so did a little read-up on the official Google Voice Page. Although there are many, many awesome features to this service the one that particularly jumped out at me was this: Voicemail Transcripts.

Sound like something we’re already familiar with? Yeah, that’s basically Visual Voicemail. The reason why this popped out among all the other cool features is because, as a unlocked iPhone user, VV is the ONE functionality that I’ve been missing from my iPhone, o’ these long years. So as amazing as Google Voice would be for all iPhone users, I think that the unlocked population will be extra-specially excited, I know I am.

[Update: My apologies for insinuating that Visual Voicemail and Voicemail Transcripts were the same thing. Indeed, they are not. Obviously Voicemail Transcripts is a whole lot cooler than just having notification of your voicemails, so everyone should be excited about this feature, not just unlocked iPhone users.]

chantelle

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A-man
A-man
17 years ago

VVM does not equal VM transcripts…

Dunno where you got that from

Justin
Justin
17 years ago

Thing is if I want my iPhone to remain unlock, I can’t upgrade to 2.2.1 🙁

ChantelleJoy
ChantelleJoy
Reply to  Justin
17 years ago
Rey
Rey
Reply to  ChantelleJoy
17 years ago

But Pwnage Tool has only the Mac update…if we’re only using PC, we can only use the QuickPwn update, right?

ChantelleJoy
ChantelleJoy
Reply to  Rey
17 years ago

Yes, you should use QuickPwn if you’re on a PC

A-man
A-man
17 years ago

You can upgrade with a custom firmware. It will stay unlocked then.
Go to the dev team blog (google is your friend)

DjDATZ
17 years ago

@justin um…yea you can…

paskos
paskos
17 years ago

one little correction, voicemail transcription is not the same thing as visual voicemail.
Voicemail transcription is when your audio voicemails are transcribed into text you instead of listening to your voicemails you read them.

ChantelleJoy
ChantelleJoy
Reply to  paskos
17 years ago

Whoopsy, yes. (which I think we can all agree is even better</i!) 🙂

Dusty
Dusty
17 years ago

I like the layout, looks good 😉

Tom
Tom
17 years ago

I don’t know why anyone would wait for 3.0 because 2.2.1 is so far superior to 2.2. Safari is actually usable now because it’s stable finally

_Shorty
_Shorty
17 years ago

Telus Visual Voice Mail is what is being referred to. It sends you a text message containing a transcription of your voicemail. Yes, the name is similar to Visual Voicemail on the iPhone, which is competely unrelated in function.

Alan
Alan
17 years ago

Everyone is “gushing” over the new Gmail on iPhone interface. At first, I thought it was terrific, but it appears to be bug-ridden. Large emails do not display correctly, and many users are complaining that graphics do not render correctly and are replaced with a box containing a question mark.

The new version has a link at the bottom which allows you to revert back to the older version. Doing so corrects these issues. That means something is wrong with this wonderful new interface. I suspect Google will fix this quickly, but it has been 3 days now and still no fix. Why are those who are blogging about this topic not noticing or commenting on the bugs? Do you not test the interface before writing about it?

ChantelleJoy
ChantelleJoy
Reply to  Alan
17 years ago

Alan, I did test it out briefly but did not find any bugs at the time. Thanks for adding your comments about the specific problems you’ve found – that’s why I hope people will read the comments in addition to the articles, because our readers have great insights.

And I agree that hopefully Google will fix the problems soon!

Alan
Alan
Reply to  ChantelleJoy
17 years ago

thanks for your response. In Gmail’s Google Group for the iPhone version, many others are posting similar bug reports. Looks like this is a problem afterall.

Rey
Rey
17 years ago

But the Pwnage Tool update is only for Mac…if I’m using PC, I can only use the QuickPwn update, right?

ashley
ashley
Reply to  Rey
17 years ago

yes use quickpwn on windows.
it’s super easy!

good luck!

abby
abby
17 years ago

good post

abby
abby
17 years ago

nice

Robert Dawson
16 years ago

hmmm Google Voice is really only available for the US and it's currently on invite only. Since this is a Canadian site I thought that should be mentioned. Unless I've been given wrong information.

Robert Dawson
16 years ago

hmmm Google Voice is really only available for the US and it's currently on invite only. Since this is a Canadian site I thought that should be mentioned. Unless I've been given wrong information.

stubble1
stubble1
16 years ago

is it possible to get an invite to gv mobile?
can anyone help me out there? pplease? 😉
thank you in advance for considering.
-s

stubble1
stubble1
16 years ago

is it possible to get an invite to gv mobile?
can anyone help me out there? pplease? 😉
thank you in advance for considering.
-s

A-man
A-man
17 years ago

VVM does not equal VM transcripts…

Dunno where you got that from

Justin
Justin
17 years ago

Thing is if I want my iPhone to remain unlock, I can’t upgrade to 2.2.1 🙁

Justin
Justin
17 years ago

Thing is if I want my iPhone to remain unlock, I can’t upgrade to 2.2.1 🙁

A-man
A-man
17 years ago

You can upgrade with a custom firmware. It will stay unlocked then.
Go to the dev team blog (google is your friend)

A-man
A-man
17 years ago

You can upgrade with a custom firmware. It will stay unlocked then.
Go to the dev team blog (google is your friend)

Anonymous
Anonymous
17 years ago

@justin um…yea you can…

Anonymous
Anonymous
17 years ago

@justin um…yea you can…

ChantelleJoy
ChantelleJoy
17 years ago
paskos
paskos
17 years ago

one little correction, voicemail transcription is not the same thing as visual voicemail.
Voicemail transcription is when your audio voicemails are transcribed into text you instead of listening to your voicemails you read them.

paskos
paskos
17 years ago

one little correction, voicemail transcription is not the same thing as visual voicemail.
Voicemail transcription is when your audio voicemails are transcribed into text you instead of listening to your voicemails you read them.

Guest
Guest
17 years ago

I like the layout, looks good 😉

Guest
Guest
17 years ago

I like the layout, looks good 😉

Tom
Tom
17 years ago

I don’t know why anyone would wait for 3.0 because 2.2.1 is so far superior to 2.2. Safari is actually usable now because it’s stable finally

_Shorty
_Shorty
17 years ago

Telus Visual Voice Mail is what is being referred to. It sends you a text message containing a transcription of your voicemail. Yes, the name is similar to Visual Voicemail on the iPhone, which is competely unrelated in function.

Alan
Alan
17 years ago

Everyone is “gushing” over the new Gmail on iPhone interface. At first, I thought it was terrific, but it appears to be bug-ridden. Large emails do not display correctly, and many users are complaining that graphics do not render correctly and are replaced with a box containing a question mark.

The new version has a link at the bottom which allows you to revert back to the older version. Doing so corrects these issues. That means something is wrong with this wonderful new interface. I suspect Google will fix this quickly, but it has been 3 days now and still no fix. Why are those who are blogging about this topic not noticing or commenting on the bugs? Do you not test the interface before writing about it?

Rey
Rey
17 years ago

But Pwnage Tool has only the Mac update…if we’re only using PC, we can only use the QuickPwn update, right?

ReyT
ReyT
17 years ago

But the Pwnage Tool update is only for Mac…if I’m using PC, I can only use the QuickPwn update, right?

ChantelleJoy
ChantelleJoy
17 years ago

Whoopsy, yes. (which I think we can all agree is even better</i!) 🙂

ChantelleJoy
ChantelleJoy
17 years ago

Whoopsy, yes. (which I think we can all agree is even better</i!) 🙂

ChantelleJoy
ChantelleJoy
17 years ago

Yes, you should use QuickPwn if you’re on a PC

ChantelleJoy
ChantelleJoy
17 years ago

Alan, I did test it out briefly but did not find any bugs at the time. Thanks for adding your comments about the specific problems you’ve found – that’s why I hope people will read the comments in addition to the articles, because our readers have great insights.

And I agree that hopefully Google will fix the problems soon!

ChantelleJoy
ChantelleJoy
17 years ago

Alan, I did test it out briefly but did not find any bugs at the time. Thanks for adding your comments about the specific problems you’ve found – that’s why I hope people will read the comments in addition to the articles, because our readers have great insights.

And I agree that hopefully Google will fix the problems soon!

ashley
ashley
17 years ago

yes use quickpwn on windows.
it’s super easy!

good luck!

ashley
ashley
17 years ago

yes use quickpwn on windows.
it’s super easy!

good luck!

abby
abby
17 years ago

good post

abby
abby
17 years ago

good post

abby
abby
17 years ago

nice

abby
abby
17 years ago

nice

Alan
Alan
17 years ago

thanks for your response. In Gmail’s Google Group for the iPhone version, many others are posting similar bug reports. Looks like this is a problem afterall.

Alan
Alan
17 years ago

thanks for your response. In Gmail’s Google Group for the iPhone version, many others are posting similar bug reports. Looks like this is a problem afterall.

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