Gmail has long since ceased to be a simple email service to be something more. In addition to being an email client for all your accountsWhether or not they are from Google, you can organize your time with Calendar, your contacts, your notes and access the rest of Google services to work or manage your day to day. And with its new integrated design, Gmail allows a simple click to access Chat, Spaces and Meet.
Gmail has changed a lot since it started out as a minimalist email client. Little by little it was incorporating the entire offer of Google apps. Over the years, it has eliminated shortcuts, incorporating new ones… And, finally, the productivity combo Google is going to be Gmail along with Chat, Spaces and Meet. We were already able to verify it in Gmail for mobile devices.
And although on mobile screens it is more of a nuisance than a help, in its desktop version it is something else. The new integrated design of Gmail makes Google applications a stone’s throw away and we can toggle between them without exiting of our mail client.
What’s new in the new Gmail design
You may have already seen a floating window when you open Gmail on your computer. “Try the new Gmail view.” You can test it at that moment by clicking on try now or click on Close and do it another time.
This new integrated design of Gmail integrates services like Chat, Spaces and Meet in a way that they are one more part of Gmail. From now on, a sidebar will display shortcuts for switch instantly among the four Google services or applications. Without opening new tabs or windows in the browser.
The second great novelty is in the lower left corner of the Gmail window. Google calls her notification bubble. There you will see visual notifications when you receive a new chat or space message. When you hover over it, you will see a message preview. In addition, you will have the opportunity to answer those messages from a pop-up window or directly from the Chat or Spaces tab.
For the rest, the panel that corresponds to Gmail and show the trays It can be hidden to take up less space. And so that your contacts know if you are available, busy or working, in the upper right corner you will see a status indicator.
How to activate the integrated design of Gmail
If you want to enjoy this new design, you should know that, for the moment, Google has not activated it by default. But you can easily toggle between the current layout and the new. It will depend on whether, in addition to Gmail, you use services such as Chat, Spaces or Meet. Precisely, Google tells us that if we want this new integrated design we must activate Chat in Gmail and select it in the left panel.
So to activate Chat in Gmail we will go to Setting, in the upper right corner of Gmail, from your desktop browser. Within Setting we are going to See all settings > Chat and Meet. There we will activate Google Chat by selecting google-chat or disabled next to Chat.
Then we go back to Setting. This time we are going to quick settings and click on Try the new Gmail view. A floating window will open in which we must press or click on Reload. If you don’t like this new Gmail built-in design, you can go back to the old design by repeating the steps above.