Gmail for iPhone and iPad Adds Scribbles, a Doodle Painting Tool

Last month Google made history with the launch of the first ever Gmail app for the iPhone and the iPad. Unfortunately, the history it made was because the app was so buggy it was unusable. It had to be pulled and a fixed version was released later.

Now, Google is releasing the first update to the dreaded app. It comes with several of the most requested features, custom signatures, a vacation responder, but not with multiple account support or some of the other things people have been asking for.

It doesn't matter though, since the new iOS Gmail app comes with Scribbles, a doodle painting feature, built in.

"We’ve also got another fun feature to make your language even more colorful (in a good way!). In the Gmail app and Gmail for mobile you can now open up a canvas and scribble a message that will be attached to your email," Google wrote.

"It's perfect for sending a quick sketch that is hard to express in words or adding a fun graphic to make your email more personal. Scribbles support different colors, brush sizes, lines, erasers and spray paint," it said.

Scribbles makes good use of the touch screen and enables you to, well, scribble something on the screen and then send it as an attachment to the email.

It may seem like a trivial addition, but it could come in handy, there are times when you really need to 'draw someone a map.' It's easier to simply doodle your idea than to describe it, especially since typing on a touch screen is still a pain.

What's also interesting is that this is a unique feature to the iOS Gmail app. The Android app doesn't have it and neither does the regular Gmail site. It will be interesting to see whether the idea catches on and whether it will be added to more Gmail apps.