Why Google’s Native Gmail for iPhone App Was Half-Assed

It’s been three long years waiting for a href="http://www.everythingicafe.com/native-gmail-app-for-iphone-ipad-available-now/2011/11/02/">native Gmail client for the iPhone. When news broke yesterday that it was about to become a reality, you could almost hear the sound of nerds dancing in the street. If you are a heavy Gmail user like myself, the promise of a native Gmail client was music to your ears. Up until now, the best mobile Gmail experience was only available on Android. If you wanted access to Gmail features on your iPhone, you needed to access the mobile view using Safari and we all know that web apps are so 2007. I’d rather forgo using Gmail features then use a web app and up until this point, I have. I had hoped that would change with the release of the Gmail for iPhone app. Finally, a native Gmail experience on the iPhone and iPad. Three years in the making and finally getting past the App Store approval process, the Gmail app is finally available (href="http://itunes.apple.com/app/gmail/id422689480?mt=8">App Store link). A poorly designed mess, that is nothing more than a glorified web view. It begs the question, why did Google spend three years to deliver a half-assed Gmail app?

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First the good news, this app does support notifications. That’s about where the good news starts and ends. When you first open up the app, you are quickly greeted with the familiar Gmail login as if you were logging in from Safari. Here’s where things go terribly wrong. This native app is nothing more then a web view of your email and not a very attractive one at that. Sure you can access features like starring and labels, but this is not the inbox or UI that you want to be staring at throughout your work day. Like many, I had hopes that the Gmail app would be just like Apple’s Mail app, but with Gmail features. Not a crazy request, but it’s not even close.

class="wp-caption-text">Google's Ice Cream Sandwich will still offer the best mobile Gmail experience

So why has Google completely punted their Gmail app? Next to Maps, Gmail is the crowned jewel among Google services. There are no shortage of Gmail users, myself included. Why would Google provide Apple with the best Gmail user experience, thus removing another reason to move to or stick with Android. If today’s release provided a Gmail experience on-par with Ice Cream Sandwich (Google’s Android 4.0), then it’s one less objection to moving to iOS. If you are a heavy Gmail user, todays release of Gmail for iPhone might have created a reason for some Android users to jump ship and pick up an iPhone 4S. While there are no shortage of compelling reasons to switch to iOS, today’s release of a native Gmail app is not one of them.