Google’s official App for Gmail has reappeared on the App store. It’s (hopefully) less buggy than the last version — although for Aussie iTunes Store users, it’s not that easy to find.
Gmail for iOS was meant to be out a couple of weeks ago — and technically it was — but you had to be quick, because some game-stopping bugs somehow got past both the boffins at Google and Apple, and the App was hastily pulled from the App store.
It’s now back, but at least at the time of writing, it’s really badly indexed; if you search the store for “Gmail” you’ll find a host of third party gmail alternatives instead. This link should see you through to the official App.
The official Google Blog notes that if you did score the original buggy app and kept it, you’ll need to log out of the app and then upgrade for it to work properly. [Google Mobile Blog via MacRumors]
Dexter
Thursday, November 17, 2011 at 7:55 AMwhy gmail app than native email client in IOS?
we can even set it up as exchange to sync contacts and calendar.
I dont’t understand the idea of gmail app..
Benji
Thursday, November 17, 2011 at 8:01 AMStarred messages, threaded emails, important message tagging and better search are all features ofthe gmail app not available in the native app. It will suit gmail users who use these features.
z3d
Thursday, November 17, 2011 at 9:01 AMapple added threaded emails a long time ago. you can also flag emails (these translate to stars in gmail). i’m not sure what you mean by better search either. i don’t understand why you wouldn’t use the baked in email client that has lots of nice integration tweaks from other areas of the OS either.
olearymo
Thursday, November 17, 2011 at 9:18 AMBecause some people want to. Simple as that. Do you REALLY need to have everyone justify their decisions to you?
Swanny
Thursday, November 17, 2011 at 9:32 AMThreaded emails on the native Mail client SUCK. It’s so clunky whereas Gmail implements it in a much more streamlined manner. Also, if you want push email and the archive function in the Mail client, you need to set up your Gmail once for the archive function, then set up a separate Exchange account for push email.
z3d
Thursday, November 17, 2011 at 9:37 AMi don’t care what people do. i am interested why google have bothered. a bit sensitive, are we?
olearymo
Friday, November 18, 2011 at 9:18 AMnot really z3d, just sick of people commenting on things they don’t care about, on how much they don’t care about them, yet they care enough to come in and comment.
That said I was kinda responding to dexter mostly, and you partly. No personal jab intended.
Ben Daniel
Thursday, November 17, 2011 at 5:26 PMI have to say I don’t really understand why Google bothered either. The existing mail app is pretty good, flags = stars, has push via using the exchange setup, integrated with the rest of the iOS, support for multiple gmail accounts (or any provider for that matter) in one message stream, downloaded emails viewable offline.
krow
Thursday, November 17, 2011 at 8:35 AMYeah Im with Dexter.. but I do hear your Benji .. gmail via exchange is pretty neat just recently set it up. I do prefer the gmail app interface though. Question will this app sync my calendar and contacts too ? or do I have to leave exchange on to do that?
John
Thursday, November 17, 2011 at 9:01 AMWhen I searched for ‘Gmail’ on the app store on my iPhone, it was the top hit.
Alex Kidman
Thursday, November 17, 2011 at 9:06 AMCool; they’ve clearly sorted out the indexing, because that wasn’t the case a couple of hours ago!
Jim
Thursday, November 17, 2011 at 9:45 AMJust installed it, seems good but no multiple accounts (for my google apps along side my gmail acc)? forces me to use the native app + this? i might as well stick to the old way.
Stew
Thursday, November 17, 2011 at 11:52 AMSame. No multiple account support, so uninstalled it & am back to native iOS client. I can at least add labels on my Android phone.
Also, I have 2-factor authentication set up for website logon & single-use throwaway codes set up for apps that access it. This iOS Gmail app still requires that I use my real password plus my Google Authenticator code that I’d have to re-enter every 30 days.
No thanks.
Marlon
Thursday, November 17, 2011 at 9:49 AMAm I the only one who absolutely despises the way the native iOS app (and Apple for that matter) handles email? Drives me mad when an email trail is ruined by randomly added indentations and the whole mail trail being converted from html to text (this might be fixed in iOS5).
In my experience, if you get an email and it looks like shit (mismatched fonts, >>>>>> on every line, chances are there was a Mac or iPhone/iPad involved somewhere..
Anyone
Thursday, November 17, 2011 at 12:35 PMOne reason why you should use the Gmail App is that it actually supports MULTIPLE ATTACHMENTS! It’s a pain in ass where I have to send multiple emails just because I want to send more than one pictures to my friends.
krow
Friday, November 25, 2011 at 3:22 PMCan someone confirm something for me – I thought the Gmail app was mean to bring push notifications ?? .. no option for push in mail-> fetch new data -> advanced -> gmail … just manual fetch
krow
Friday, November 25, 2011 at 3:25 PMfyi for those still wondering: http://www.geek.com/articles/mobile/official-ios-gmail-app-arrives-without-push-notifications-2011112/