Gmail - Email by Google

By now, you've probably heard of Gmail. Even if you've never used it, the odds are high that many of your friends, family members, or coworkers have. Google launched the popular email service in 2004, and the debut of the Gmail mobile app came in 2006. These days, the platform's massive userbase speaks for itself; as of early 2022, over 1.5 billion people actively use the service each month.

In our highly digital world, email has utility in many areas of life, but you shouldn't have to wait until you can sit down at your computer to respond to time-sensitive messages. With the Gmail app downloaded, you'll never need to. You also won't have to wait to check your inbox for that important response you're expecting. Instead, every email function you need will be right there in your pocket, making Gmail one of the most valuable productivity apps available.

Product Features

Gmail's main function is to provide a platform to send, receive, and store emails. Your Gmail account will be linked to your Google account (if you have one), and you'll have access to 15 gigabytes of free storage through Google One. That's the storage space where all of your email data will be saved. Gmail's main interface is, in some ways, atypical of most email platforms. The difference is most apparent when it comes to ongoing message threads. With most email apps, every new message in a conversation will appear as a separate email. With Gmail, however, every message from an exchange will instead get condensed into one continuous thread. That prevents your inbox from getting overly cluttered and also helps you keep track of your ongoing back-and-forths.

Inbox tabs are another unique Gmail feature, and they help you keep your messages sorted and categorized. The five tabs are Primary, Social, Promotions, Updates, and Forums; Gmail will automatically sort emails as they come in, but you can always move them around if you need to. Don't worry, though: you won't see any spam, phishing letters, or dangerous malware anywhere in your inbox. That's because Gmail automatically filters out those harmful and annoying emails and sends them straight to the spam folder.

Two of the most recent additions to the Gmail app are instant messaging and chat rooms. You'll find these functions within Google Hangouts, and they cover a couple of the gaps that email can't fill. The instant messaging feature is nifty for quicker, back-and-forth shorthand conversations, and the chat rooms allow you to converse with multiple friends or coworkers at once.

Other valuable features include a search function for quickly locating specific emails, a swipe option to instantly archive or delete any junk that sneaks through, and an "undo send" feature for whenever you make a mistake. There's also Google Meet, which you can use to create live