Google released Gmail 15 years ago today. Several people thought Google’s email service was a joke at the time, as it offered 1GB of free storage, a size that was unheard of back then.
However, Gmail clearly wasn’t a joke, and now, 15 years on, the free email service has over 1.5 billion active users and is still growing.
To celebrate its 15th birthday, Google announced some new features and upgrades in a blog post. Plus, Android users will notice a small, celebratory animation in the search bar of the Gmail app today.
First up, the company is rolling out the ability to schedule emails. A recent teardown of the Gmail APK revealed this feature was coming, but it’s not on mobile yet.
To schedule an email you’re sending from Gmail on the web, click the little arrow beside the blue ‘Send’ button, then click ‘Schedule send.’ Gmail will prompt you to enter details on when to send the message and will send it at the time you registered.
Along with that, Google says it’s making its Smart Compose feature available in more languages. Further, Google says Smart Compose will better adapt to your writing style.
For the unfamiliar, Smart Compose started rolling out in May 2018 on the web. It learns from how you write and offers predictions to save you from typing common phrases.
Smart Compose came to mobile as a Pixel 3 exclusive, but recently started rolling out to all Android devices. iOS is set to get the feature soon. Google says Smart Compose already saves users from typing over 1 billion characters each week.
Now, Smart Compose will work in Spanish, French, Italian and Portuguese. Additionally, it can recognize the way you write and stay true to your voice. For example, if you often start an email to your team with “Hey team,” Smart Compose will help keep that style.
Finally, Google capped off its blog post noting it recently launched AMP for email, which allows emails to be more dynamic and interactive. For example, Pinterest will allow users to interact with items in the Gmail inbox, saving things to boards and more.
Source: Google
