Gmail Upgrade Hits the Android Market, Brings UI Improvements and Priority Inbox

While we were in Baltimore for Phandroid Live, AndroidForums.com admin Dave (otherwise affectionately known as Shivers316) couldn’t contain his excitement when he heard that Gmail had been published in the Android market and ready for download. Right after I laughed at him for not owning a device with Android 2.2, I downloaded the Froyo-exclusive upgrade and it takes things a step further in terms of user interface. Things are pretty much as they were before with the floating header controls getting a bit of a visual overhaul. Nothing groundbreaking, but it does look nice.

You’ll also get “limited support” for Gmail’s new priority inbox feature, but be sure to enable it on your desktop version of Gmail otherwise you won’t see that all-important “Important” label. This also drives home the fact that Google’s looking to further separate apps from the system as any improvements to Gmail would have otherwise had to have come from a system update that users may find themselves waiting forever for, depending on carrier and manufacturer (Sony Ericsson users, we feel your pain.) If you’re on a device with Android 2.2, be sure to scan the QR code below for the updated Gmail app or find it yourself by searching the Android market.

15 Comments

A little late on this?

F*** YOU MOTOROLA!!! GIVE ME MY FROYO!!!

Milestone gets no love….

This is one of the reason I love my Nexus1 phone and will keep continue to support Google rather than the crappy carriers. Carriers, especially AT&T and Verizon, only care about short term profit and not their users. I wish Google could have become a wireless provider and bring us choices.

When is their Nexus 2 coming out with Gingerbread? I can’t wait.

No 2.1 love from Gmail? :(

I can’t find it with my N1 stock Froyo even though I scanned the QR code :\ .. maybe it’s because my country doesn’t support full market? hmmm weird.

This was news. 2 days ago.

I had previously installed the Gmail update from the web before it hit the market. Now after updating from market the floating header no longer works.

What happened?

That bar at the top where you can reply and star the e-mail and it shows you who it’s from. That doesn’t stay at the top for me when I scroll down. I have the HTC Incredible. Is this happening for anyone else?

Yes, we’re late. We’re going to be late on a few of these stories as we try to catch up from missed time due to Phandroid Live. That said, we won’t skip over newsworthy stories just because they’re two days old. We apologize for the delay, but all we can do is catch up and go on from there.