I suspect that most readers use free Gmail accounts on their Chromebooks. If you are one of them, like me, this news does not apply to you, at least not yet. However, for those who pay GSuite customers, the Gmail interface on their Chromebook is about to look very different. Google today announced a preview of upcoming client changes that unify Mail, Tasks, Meet, and Chat like never before.
Here’s a quick recap video to show you what to expect:
Chat will be more integrated into Gmail with these changes, along with a clever new collaboration feature in chat rooms:
… we’ve infused them with real-time collaboration by adding the ability to open and co-edit a document with your team without leaving Gmail. This makes it easier for you to collaborate directly in the context of where you are currently doing your work, so for example you can chat about the changes you are making to a document in real time or assign a new task ( Or check a complete one!), Without changing the screen.
Fewer screens to manage? Count on me even though I don’t collaborate much on documents these days.
Oh, and you’ll be able to use the Gmail search tool, one of my all-time favorite features that I can’t live without, to quickly find what you want in chat:
Google says it will begin rolling out this new integrated GSuite and Gmail experience to interested customers who sign up here, and a broader deployment will follow.
Will users using Gmail on Chromebooks with unpaid plans get the same or a similar update in the future?
That’s hard to say since Google has been trying to keep “additional” features within paid plans, especially when those plans are aimed at companies that pay a license per seat. Still, I wouldn’t be surprised to see at least some of these changes come to us in the future. COVID-19 was slow to gain access to Google Meet for everyone and I suspect it is being heavily used on Chromebooks, even those that don’t pay for GSuite.
Is this something you would like to see as a non-GSuite Chromebook user?
