Leaked Screenshots Suggest Extensive Gmail Overhaul

Screenshots of what looks to be a new version of Gmail, leaked by Geek.com, suggest that the free cloud-based email service is about to go through the most radical changes since it was launched in 2004.

The images show a simpler, cleaner design, hidden menus and several new features, including the ability to ‘snooze’ read emails, which will automatically return to the top of the inbox after a set period of time.

The leak hasn’t been aknowledged by Google.

Ten years on

When Google launched Gmail, most of the Internet users were still relying on client-side software (like Microsoft Outlook) to check their emails. Gmail attracted customers with simplified access and email management, while offering generous inbox sizes which meant they never had to delete any messages.

Over the years, the company gradually added new features, like encryption, voice search and the ability to send up to $10,000 in an email thanks to integration with Google Wallet.

There were also plenty of things Google got wrong: it was widely criticised for opening inboxes to private messages from Google+, and a recent lawsuit finally made it stop scanning email contents of its customers in the education sector.

According to the leaked screenshots, the new design really does bring about big changes. It starts with giving more prominence to search as the main way of finding useful messages. The left sidebar has disappeared completely, replaced by a slide-out menu that looks like something straight out of Android

The menu for creating and editing emails is now sitting at the bottom right part of the screen, along with ‘bubbles’ that can store your unfinished messages or reminders. There’s also a new ‘hangouts’ button in the top right corner.

‘Starred’ emails – a convenient way to highlight  important messages – have been replaced by ‘pins’, and read emails can now be ‘snoozed’ – which means they will return to the top of the inbox after a set period of time.

Many observers have pointed out that overall, the new Gmail looks more like Google+ or Google Now than the grey spreadsheet we all know.

Google hasn’t officially commented on the images, and even if the leak did indeed originate from the company, all of the features could change before the release.

Are you a Google expert? Take our quiz!

Max Smolaks

Max 'Beast from the East' Smolaks covers open source, public sector, startups and technology of the future at TechWeekEurope. If you find him looking lost on the streets of London, feed him coffee and sugar.

View Comments

  • Personally I like Gmail the way it is. For me it's an issue of.....if it's not broken don't fix it. I know that Google cannot please everyone but if they are going to make a change visually, that they look strong and hard on how bad the community responded to the visual changes Of Twitter and it's profile and new header image. The attempt was to make it look more like facebook. The community was definitely not on par with that recent visual change on Twitter and I just hope that Google does not make the same mistaken.

Recent Posts

Smartphone Shipments To Rebound In 2024, Says Counterpoint

Relief for Apple, Samsung etc after smartphone shipments are predicted to recover in 2024, as…

17 mins ago

Ericsson To Cut 1,200 Jobs in Sweden Amid ‘Challenging’ Market

Swedish telecoms giant Ericsson blamed “challenging mobile networks market” and “further volume contraction” for job…

21 hours ago

FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried Sentenced To 25 Years In Prison For $8bn Fraud

Dramatic downfall. Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years in prison for masterminding $8bn fraud that…

22 hours ago

Elon Musk Orders FSD Demo For Every Tesla US Sale

Fallout avoidance? Tesla buyers in the US must be shown how to use the FSD…

23 hours ago

Amazon Pumps Another $2.75 Billion Into Anthropic

Amazon completes its $4bn investment into AI firm Anthropic, after providing an additional $2.75bn in…

1 day ago