Gmail for Android Gets Redesign and Support for 3rd Party Email Services

In the next couple weeks, along with release of Android 5.0 “Lollipop”, the Gmail Android app will be getting a big update. The new Gmail app will have a major design update and will have the ability to add other 3rd party email accounts.

Here’s the video…

Gmail’s Material Design

The first thing to note is that the app has gone through a redesign that goes along with Google’s new design concept called “Material Design” which focuses on modern, flat elements that animate and seem to hover in a 3D space. You see a lot more shadows, circles, and overlapping elements. It’s a very nice design update and I’m excited to get it.

I wonder how much of this redesign will make it to the web version of Gmail. There was a leaked screenshot a few months ago that shows the web/desktop version of Gmail with an interface that looks very similar to this. I’m anxious to see if Google tries to unify the Gmail experience by giving people the same interface design on all platforms.

3rd Party Email Accounts

This is the feature that has most people excited. It’s also the feature that the video seems to focus on.

Starting with this next release, Gmail 5.0, Android users will be able to add various 3rd party email accounts into the Gmail app, finally eliminating the need for the Email app that often comes along with the Gmail app.

Having both of those apps on Android always seemed ridiculous. Many people don’t want to use separate mobile apps to check their email from different accounts. It’s about time Google added this feature to the Gmail app.

Yahoo and Outlook.com are the examples shown in the video, however according to this tweet, the update will also let you add virtually any 3rd party email service via IMAP, POP & Exchange.

I wonder if other email providers will see a jump in new users because of this change? I bet there are many people like me who stopped using other email accounts and started using Gmail exclusively. This could mean a shift in that thinking. But ultimately, this is a great move for Google because even if people use other email services, at least they are getting more people to use their Gmail app.