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Google just announced the availability of Gmail for iPhone and iPad, two apps we've been waiting years for.
2011-11-02
And they both stink. They're essentially the web versions of Gmail we've had forever with some slight changes to menus.
You can attach images inside emails you're composing, thank goodness, but that's about it.
And to top it off, push notifications and badges aren't working from the get-go, even though Google advertises that as a feature.
But what did we expect? Google's iOS apps like Google Voice and Google+ have always been buggy and unimpressive.
Here's our tour of Gmail for iPhone and iPad, which is good enough, but not anywhere close to great.
Oh boy, we're excited. Here goes.
Hmm. That can't be good. Looks like notifications won't be working for a while. This screenshot is from somebody else, but we experienced the same issue.
Sign in with your Gmail account using a web interface, which is disappointing.
Here's your Gmail inbox. It looks just like the Gmail web app, but with a black bar at the top.
One redeeming feature is that you can tap "Menu" or swipe to access your folders. This works better than the old iPhone web app.
Labels are here too, via the new side navigation bar.
Tap an email to open it. From here, you can delete, archive, file, and reply to messages.
Once you archive something, you can "undo" the action, just like the web app has had for months.
Searches are also easy to perform, and work much better than the iPhone Mail app's search feature.
Tap the paper clip to attach a picture, which is our favorite feature here. Big omissions: no customizable signatures, and no identities for sending from other address like you can inside Gmail.
Your Camera Roll and Photo Library pop up where you can pick pictures.
Threaded emails also look just how you'd expect from the Gmail web app.
There are no settings to be adjusted inside the Gmail app. Within iOS settings, this is all you get.
The iPad app is largely the same.
It looks just like the Gmail iPad web app, which has been around for ages.
Ellis Hamburger is a former reporter for SAI:Tools at Business Insider. He wrote about Facebook, apps, and gadgets.He graduated from the University of Michigan in 2010, where he founded Michigan's first technology blog.
