2 min

Google is changing Gmail. It was already announced before, but now it’s actually rolling out changes to Gmail. Google Meet and Google Chat will be merged into Gmail.

The changes in the desktop interface are small, but you get significantly more possibilities in the Gmail mobile app. In the desktop sidebar, there are services like Google Chat and meetings that come from Google Meet. The messaging part of Google’s email program will also be different: split-screen. You can now see a Google chatroom or a Google Doc within Gmail.

Gmail

The Gmail app now looks different on smartphones. A tab option is added at the bottom of the app. Here you can choose to view mail, chat, chatrooms and Meet. This can only be seen if companies have ‘Chat preferred’ enabled. It is expected that in a month’s time the implementation will be done for all G Suite users. By the way, it only concerns Android and the web app of Gmail. The changes for the iOS app are not ready yet, Google will announce later when the features will come to iOS.

By the way, there is something different about Gmail for people who don’t use G Suite. The G Suite tab bar goes to two buttons: Mail and Meet. In short, more space to promote Google Meet, because that’s where the company wants to focus on now a lot of people are working from home. However, this is optional. You can turn it off by going to settings in your email, then uncheck ‘Show the Meet tab for video calling’.

We wrote earlier that Google had these plans. This month it is also busy with new security features for Chat and Meet, with GSuite for Education being the first to do so. You can read more about the update on the Google Blog.