Gmail 2.0 for iOS

Multiple account support, finally, among a bunch of other improvements to what I consider the only serious alternative to Apple Mail. (At least now that Sparrow is end-of-life. Speaking of which, no idea whether this Gmail update includes work from the Sparrow team.) Update: MG Siegler tweets: “And no, Sparrow team had nothing to do with it, I hear.”

It’s nice to have a built-in webview for previewing links without leaving the app. Apple Mail feels out of date in this regard — always jumping you over to Safari to open links made sense in 2007. It feels outdated in the App Store world of today, where everyone is used to web pages opening in an in-app webview in just about every app that contains links.

I like how the iPad version keeps the sidebar visible, even in portrait. I do not understand why the iPhone version seemingly has no way to go to the next or previous message without going all the way back to the message list. The use of Helvetica Neue Light renders text terribly on the iPad Mini; the use of Arial for a few elements is simply inexcusable (but unsurprising).

★ Tuesday, 4 December 2012