14 DAY TRIAL // With Yahoo! optimizing its email services for iPad owners, Google has been staying ahead of the curve as well, by introducing a stacked cards interface in its own Gmail web site, an optimization that specifically targets owners of an Apple tablet.
Google has been offering an iOS version of Gmail since April 2009, when the search giant made a complete redesign of the web application's underlying code, allowing it develop and release new features that users have been asking for more rapidly.
The new stacked card UI is actually typical to Apple’s own Mail application for iPad. Whether Google is entitled to use the same system in its own service remains to be seen.
Until then, users can enjoy the new feature for selecting and managing multiple conversations.
“When we announced our new interface for Gmail on the iPad, we requested feedback on how we could improve this experience for tablet devices,” Liam Asher Segel-Brown, Software Engineering Intern, Google Mobile says.
“In June, we responded with a new compose screen. Today, we’re addressing the top feedback by launching a new “stacked card” interface for selecting and managing multiple conversations,” Liam writes on the Google Mobile Blog.
The Google staffer notes that performing actions on selected conversations was “awkward” in the past.
“In the new interface, selected conversations are displayed stacked on the right panel for easy organizing, archiving or deleting,” Liam proudly explains.
“The second toolbar is gone so it’s always clear which conversations you’re working with.”
Google also reveals that the need for a stacked cards interface paved the way for some experimentation with CSS3 transitions.
This makes mobile web applications look and feel like native apps, according to Liam.
Apple tablet owners can check out the new Gmail UI by directing their Safari web brower to gmail.com.
Users may also choose to have a homescreen link to the service, for quick access.
The new interface is only available in US English for now, Google’s Software Engineering Intern notes.