Gmail gets a new interface with quick access to major Google services

Google has announced a new design for the Gmail interface, which extends integration with Google Char, Meet and Spaces. The new interface will be proposed starting in February, and will be automatically activated for all Gmail users after the middle of this year.

The main novelty is the addition of a new vertical bar on the left side of the screen, hosting direct shortcuts to other Google services that you could use to continue email discussions.

Google calls this view integrated, and will soon be familiar to all users of Google services, especially those who access these services for business purposes through the Workspace platform. Starting February 8, Google will offer the new version of the interface at the testing stage, following that by April, users who have not already signed up for the test program (Google indicates that there will be a request at some point, which will encourage you to do so) will be automatically switched to the new interface design. In the first phase, the old design will remain selectable from the Settings menu, but this option will also disappear until the end of Q2-2022, when Google will formalize the new “standard Gmail experience”.

Although it is intended to be universal, the new Gmail interface may not be as popular as the current one, with the selected design targeting Google’s interests rather than the real need for users to change. For example, managing chats and appointments now happens on a single screen, which can be confusing for regular users with minimalist approaches. In contrast, for those who manage to focus on one thing at a time, the new interface could provide easier access to other Gmail-related tools, just as Google engineers intended.

Google says there will be notification bubbles associated with each listed service that will help users find out what’s new, without visiting each application.