Interesting how they decided to copy the sliding panels from Facebook for iPhone. I wonder if it will become a standard on iOS.
Didn't Twitter for iPad use this before Facebook?
Introducing the Gmail app for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
41–50 of 118 posts
Re: Introducing the Gmail app for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
#42Shows exactly how far apart the distance between native apps and web apps really is. People were impressed with the GMail web app when it launched; this is basically a skin around that same app and they're recoiling from it in horror.
What are you saying? web apps are better or native apps?
That native apps are better.
People have lower expectations from web apps, e.g. it wasn't too long ago that GMail getting drag-and-drop attachment support was a big deal.
Re: Introducing the Gmail app for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
#43Aside of the fact that the app displayed an error message at first launch ("Notification error" - "no valid 'aps-environment' entitlement string found for application" - how did this pass review?), it a) doesn't support multiple accounts, b) is very laggy to use when you compare this to, say, the android version and c) feels like another one of these "let's embed the website above a little native toolbar"-apps Becaus…
"There's next to no additional value (especially with the currently broken push) provided by such a half-assed pseudo-native app."
There may be no additional value to nerds like you and me, but there are plenty of normal people who want GMail on their homescreen and want to get it from the App Store.
Re: Introducing the Gmail app for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
#44Super disappointing that it's just a native wrapper around a web interface. They had a chance to kill it with this app and they didn't reach very far.
Re: Introducing the Gmail app for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
#45Aside of the fact that the app displayed an error message at first launch ("Notification error" - "no valid 'aps-environment' entitlement string found for application" - how did this pass review?), it a) doesn't support multiple accounts, b) is very laggy to use when you compare this to, say, the android version and c) feels like another one of these "let's embed the website above a little native toolbar"-apps Becaus…
Have you used the Google Voice app for the iPhone? It's literally the worst app I've ever seen in my life. Crashed constantly, won't refresh from the server, will close your text box randomly while typing a message (clearing your message), will fail to make calls frequently, and since I upgraded to iOS5 now has signed me out and crashes immediately when trying to sign back in so it's been rendered completely unusable…
Hanlon's Razor. There was a login bug with iOS 5, and Google pulled the iPhone app from the Appstore until it was fixed. It's been back for a little while now, and stable.
The Android version is far better, though, due to its OS integration. I don't think Apple would ever allow what it does on Android.
Re: Introducing the Gmail app for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
#46Aside of the fact that the app displayed an error message at first launch ("Notification error" - "no valid 'aps-environment' entitlement string found for application" - how did this pass review?), it a) doesn't support multiple accounts, b) is very laggy to use when you compare this to, say, the android version and c) feels like another one of these "let's embed the website above a little native toolbar"-apps Becaus…
Have you used the Google Voice app for the iPhone? It's literally the worst app I've ever seen in my life. Crashed constantly, won't refresh from the server, will close your text box randomly while typing a message (clearing your message), will fail to make calls frequently, and since I upgraded to iOS5 now has signed me out and crashes immediately when trying to sign back in so it's been rendered completely unusable…
Google has actually fixed these issues. The Google Voice app now works perfectly fine on my iPhone 4S...
Re: Introducing the Gmail app for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
#47The app is so bad it sounds like they're saying: "If you really want a great native Gmail experience, switch to Android." Like Gruber said on The Talk Show recently (and I'll probably be downvoted given how unpopular he is here): Apple gets people to upgrade their phones by making them love their current one; Android makers get people to upgrade their phones by making them hate their current one. Seems like the strat…
That's a little too cynical for me, and runs counter to Google's very origins (not to say that the managers and execs in charge of today's Google may have diverged from that):
http://bit.ly/uvHu5n "[Excite CEO] Bell was visibly upset. The Stanford [Google] product was too good. If Excite were to host a search engine that instantly gave people information they sought, he explained, the users would leave the site instantly.
Re: Introducing the Gmail app for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
#48Earlier quoted context omitted.
Have you used the Google Voice app for the iPhone? It's literally the worst app I've ever seen in my life. Crashed constantly, won't refresh from the server, will close your text box randomly while typing a message (clearing your message), will fail to make calls frequently, and since I upgraded to iOS5 now has signed me out and crashes immediately when trying to sign back in so it's been rendered completely unusable…
Hanlon's Razor. There was a login bug with iOS 5, and Google pulled the iPhone app from the Appstore until it was fixed. It's been back for a little while now, and stable. The Android version is far better, though, due to its OS integration. I don't think Apple would ever allow what it does on Android.
Yes, I don't doubt that the iOS5 login bug was not intentional, however every other issue I mentioned has been there since I switched back to an iPhone from Droid when the Verizon iPhone was released. That's nearly a year of a completely malfunctioning app (although, I could actually log in to that one.)
Re: Introducing the Gmail app for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
#49When I want to remind myself of what it's like to use a non-iOS device, I'll open up this Gmail app.
Re: Introducing the Gmail app for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
#50Aside of the fact that the app displayed an error message at first launch ("Notification error" - "no valid 'aps-environment' entitlement string found for application" - how did this pass review?), it a) doesn't support multiple accounts, b) is very laggy to use when you compare this to, say, the android version and c) feels like another one of these "let's embed the website above a little native toolbar"-apps Becaus…
StackOverflow suggests that they neglected to enable push notifications in their production code-signing certificate: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2452086/no-valid-aps-envi...
Isn't this sort of a sanity-level thing you'd check in QA? You know, install the app and boot it?