Move over Gmail, Inbox by Gmail has arrived into town. Google sends out previews to its invite-only “Inbox by Gmail,” an smart new email program that amps up what Gmail does. The future of email is here.
What it is:
If you want it, you gotta know someone who has it. Similar to how Google sent out its invitations to try Gmail, “Inbox by Gmail” invitations are hard to come by right now, though you can sign up to request an invitation here. Here’s how it all starts:
Once you get in and choose Android or Apple, you see an interface that works nothing like Gmail. The biggest difference is the use of Bundles used to group related messages together. It is WAY smarter than just labeling a folder in Gmail for bank statements. In Inbox, the Bundle automatically knows an email from Bank of America and Citigroup go into the “Finance” bundle without action. There are Bundles for Travel, Social, Purchases, Promos and more. This is a major time saver for those looking for a cleaned up experience.
As Google’s blog says Inbox by Gmail “highlights the key information from important messages, such as flight itineraries, event information, and photos and documents emailed to you by friends and family. Inbox will even display useful information from the web that wasn’t in the original email, such as the real-time status of your flights and package deliveries. Highlights and Bundles work together to give you just the information you need at a glance. ”
Some of my other favorite features:
Snooze button, that- duh – reminds you to reply to an email message at a later date.
There’s also a Siri- like function with the Assist. So you email yourself a reminder to call your sister to say Happy Birthday, and Inbox adds her phone number in the reminder and any other details (tracking details for the bouquet of flowers you sent her).
Pinning – allows you to pin an email as important and brings it to the top of the queue, helpful for ensuring that email from your boss is replied to…today.
Caveat:
If you are a user of Mailbox, the features are very similar – so stick with it. For those who just gotta have it, Inbox by Gmail is only available for personal accounts so far, so business users will not get access to this just yet. Also there seems to be no iPad support right now either.
Still interested? With Inbox by Gmail not yet openly available to the public yet, you can try to get it in 1 of 2 ways now:
1. Get on the wait list. You can sign up here.
2. But if you’re lucky to know someone already on the inside, they are allowed to invite a few others. So start buttering those folks up NOW.
