Four years after launching Inbox in 2014 that reinvented the mail service by focusing on email efficiency with an inbuilt task manager, Google has decided to discontinue Inbox starting March 2019.
'Inbox by Gmail has been a great place to experiment with new ideas like snoozing emails to later, as well as trying latest AI-powered experiences like Smart Reply, Nudges and high-priority notifications to help you stay productive. We've learned a lot about how to make email better – and we’ve taken popular Inbox experiences and added them into Gmail to help more than a billion people get more done with their emails every day,' Google said in a blog post.
In April, Google announced major improvements to Gmail on the web to help people be more productive at work.
Users can now click on attachments like photos without opening or scrolling through large conversations, use the new snooze button to put off emails that you just can’t get to right now or easily access other apps you use often, like Google Calendar, Tasks (now available on Android and iOS) and Keep.
Gmail also 'nudges' you to follow up and respond to messages with quick reminders that appear next to your email messages to make sure nothing slips through the cracks. The company has also added Smart Reply to Gmail on the web to help you reply to messages faster.
New features on mobile, like high-priority notifications, can notify you of important messages to help you stay focused without interruption. Plus, Gmail will now start suggesting when to unsubscribe from newsletters or offers you no longer care about.
There is also a new confidential mode that allows you to remove the option to forward, copy, download or print messages –a useful feature for when you have to send sensitive information via email, like a tax return.
'As we look to the future, we want to take a more focused approach that will help us bring the best email experience to everyone. As a result, we’re planning to focus solely on Gmail and say goodbye to Inbox by Gmail at the end of March 2019. We know change is hard, so we’ve created a transition guide to help you switch from Inbox to the new Gmail with ease. All your conversations are already waiting for you in Gmail. See you there,' added Google.
