After hearing near universal praise for Version 2.0 of Google’s Gmail app for iOS, I gave it a try on my iPhone 4. The app proved to be modern and sleek, however, in my opinion, it has a very basic, and very damning flaw. Simply put, the text is far too small and thin. I end up squinting a lot when I try to read emails, and my vision is pretty darn good. Here’s a juxtaposition of the same email, the old iPhone mail app is on the left, the new Gmail app is on the right:

A screenshot of the Gmail app on an Apple iPhone 4 screen
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Like the new Google Search app for iPad and iPhone, the new Gmail app seems like an attempt on Google’s part to Android-ize your Apple gadgets. However, by supplying an email app that favors visual flair over readability, you have to question the decision makers at the helm.

Published by Sam

Writer, musician, photo taker and video maker. When not writing somewhat longish articles for this blog, I write incredibly short things on Twitter: @SamMallery

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2 Comments

  1. Yeah, it seems like Google is trying to reinvent email, and make you think of it as a different kind of a thing. Apple is just saying: “here is an email.” Cupertino wins in this regard.

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