Today marked a great turn of events for Google’s new Inbox mail service, as the service expanded into several new platforms, including the Firefox and Safari desktop browsers, as well as launching native iOS and Google Play apps for the iPad and Android tablets respectively.
On launch, Inbox initially worked inside Google’s own Chrome browser, and with a native iOS and Android app geared for mobile phones.
Despite this, Google has yet to offer Inbox on various other platforms, including, for example, Internet Explorer. According to Inbox engineers, the focus is to “make sure that everything works perfectly before enabling it for all of our users”. In translation, that essentially equates to Google’s intention to prioritise Inbox on their own browser and operating systems before enabling access to the service by any other means.
The past few months since launch have seen widespread and continued user interest in Inbox, which Google eventually hopes to replace their current Gmail client with. At present, Inbox only functions with a Gmail account, in contrast to their Gmail app client which can handle multiple different email addresses.
Google have also stated their intention to bring Outlook and Yahoo email system functionality to Inbox in the near future, alongside other features such as (Google) Calendar and Drive integration, as well as Gmail’s Undo Send feature.
At present, the company has officially stated it is paying special attention to user feedback and will not replace Gmail with Inbox unless users specifically desire such a move.
Inbox was officially released to a limited (invitation-only) audience on October 22, 2014. Inbox was conceived as a more modern and refreshed take on Gmail with superior access to – and integration with – Google’s myriad services.
Inbox still requires an invite to use, which can be requested by emailing inbox@google.com or through a friend who already uses the service.
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