Today (May 30, 2013) Google is updating Gmail for its users. This new version is aimed at cleaning up your inbox by categorizing the types of mail you get. This article will elaborate on Gmail for Android getting tabbed inboxes to reduce clutter and organize your mailbox and what this might mean for the future of email.
Inboxes are a Mess
People are inundated with so many messages on a daily basis that an inbox can go from clean and organized to messy very quickly; and the problem is that the wave of messages that many people get are useless to them. Spam boxes have done a dreadful job at keeping away the many offers, promotions, and updates that people get daily, but this shouldn’t be a problem anymore with Google’s new update.
This update will include tabs on your Gmail that categorize your messages into 5 different types:
- Primary – for messages sent from family, friends, and those from entities that you don’t filter out.
- Social – for the many updates and notifications from your social accounts.
- Promotions—for messages dealing with offers from advertisers.
- Updates—for your billing information and other important items that you need to stay updated on.
- Forums –for entities that you subscribe to.
All of these tabs can be customized and configured to allow or disallow certain messages from appearing in a particular tab.
Gmail for Android
While the initial update for Gmail rolls out today, this function will be available for Android within the next few weeks.
What Will This Mean for the Future of Email?
This new update for Gmail should become a standard for others to follow. The intent is to stream line email so that it is useful to the people that read them. Information overload is a real problem on the internet and having too full inboxes is one of the biggest culprits for this phenomenon. Now, with this feature running, hopefully the things that you get sent will be worth reading.
