Google on Their Iterative Improvements to Gmail Mobile Web App

Alex Nicolaou of Google:

As of today, and thanks to numerous optimizations, I’m happy to report that Gmail for mobile loads 2-3× faster than it did in April. In fact on newer iPhone and Android devices, the app now loads in under 3 seconds. So yes, the mobile web can deliver really responsive applications.

Google’s mobile Gmail app is a fine example of a well-made and popular mobile web app — more mobile-WebKit-optimized than iPhone-optimized, insofar as it’s designed to turn equally well on both iPhone OS and Android. But it’s another one where it clearly isn’t as polished UI-wise as a native iPhone app. Its toolbar is a real hack — scrolling as you scroll the page, and then moving itself to the top of the screen when you finish scrolling.

★ Friday, 18 December 2009