Gmail 4.0

Say what you will, but Google’s Gmail is one of the best webmail clients out there. The fact that the service supports end-to-end encryption sure makes things even better, especially in the post-Snowden era.

The web service is pretty reliable, with a clean interface, which makes it pretty easy to get around. The mobile version of the app is not too different in this aspect, since the service is extremely easy to use and figure out, even when you first start out.

Same as on the web

Much like on the web, you can access the various areas of your email, including the sent and drafts folders and even the spam, although you might want to just throw that out ASAP. You can also access the starred messages and the trash, in case you want to clear it up or save a message you discarded.

The Inbox tabs are also available, allowing you to get quick access to the Social tab, Promotions or Updates, or any other type of category you might want to enable in the service.

Multiple accounts

What’s cool about the Gmail app is that you can handle multiple email addresses from the same interface. More specifically, you can switch between up to 5 accounts, which is done from a rather pretty interface. All you have to do is open the side panel, click on the arrow next to the email address and pick one of the accounts there. You can always manage which accounts are displayed and which get the boot.

The Settings area of the app enables you to choose when you want to get notifications, whether to add a mobile signature and whether you want to send a special message when you’re on vacation.

The attachments you receive in your emails can be saved directly to Google Drive, which makes for a really nifty features, enabling you to access them from anywhere, while also saving space and bandwidth on your device. Google Drive files can also be inserted directly into messages.

Clean interface

While the app’s interface is pretty clean and pretty much fits in with how iOS generally looks, there’s a big difference between how the Android app looks and how the iOS one does. The Material Design Google has been pushing for months has made an appearance on the company’s operating system apps, including Gmail.

It should be interesting to see whether a future update will bring the look over to Apple’s phones too or if they’ll just stick with this crisp version instead.
As all Google apps, this one too comes with support for dozens of languages, which means that if you want to check your messages in another language than English you won’t have any issues with Gmail.

The app currently requires iOS 7.1 or later and is compatible with iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, while being optimized for iPhone 5, iPhone 6, and iPhone 6 Plus. Gmail also comes with a dedicated Gmail app for iPad.

Add to watchlist:

Email

• AOL: Mail, News, Weather & Video 3.2.1
• Microsoft Outlook 1.1.0
• Yahoo Mail 3.2.16

Portable version:

• Gmail for Windows Phone
• Gmail for Android