Competition in the email market is fierce. After Apple's iOS 18 introduced a number of Gmail-like features to Apple's Mail app, including categorizing transactions, updates, and promotions and adding smart replies (in the upcoming iOS 18.1 update), Google on Wednesday announced a series of announced the functionality of Also includes enhancements to Gmail. Google's popular email service now lets users better organize and take actions like tracking packages, checking in for flights, setting reminders, and marking bills as paid right in their inbox. , a revamped “Summary Card” is added.
The company says summary cards visually organize information from all related emails and appear across email categories such as purchases, events, invoices, and travel. This eliminates the need for users to necessarily read individual emails to find the information they need, such as receipts, invoices, travel confirmations, and dinner reservations.
Google says the change is intended to reflect the evolving habits of Gmail users, but Apple's iOS 18 Mail update may have been the catalyst for the company to act more quickly.
Once this feature is rolled out, a new summary card will appear at the top of your messages, giving you easy access to the information you need at a glance, such as your package's estimated arrival date, your plane's estimated landing date, your flight's estimated arrival date, and more. It will be. Information such as bill due dates and seats reserved for concert tickets.
If Gmail users want to take additional actions like track their package, view orders, view tickets, get directions to a show, or set a bill payment reminder, they can click the blue button at the bottom of the overview card. can. Manage airline reservations, etc.
This release builds on Gmail's existing summary cards, which previously displayed snippets of information, such as package tracking information, at the beginning of emails. However, updated cards allow you to do more because they are dynamic and update with new information in real time. Additionally, Google has introduced a series of new actions that were previously unavailable, including the ability to check in for flights, set payment reminders, and invite others to events.
Image credit: Google
Gmail also introduces a new “Coming Soon” section to your inbox, organizing timely summary cards for easy access. These cards will then also appear in Gmail searches.
The feature began rolling out on October 2nd, starting with the launch of purchase summary cards on iOS and Android, and some users were already taking notice ahead of the official announcement. Over the next month, Gmail will introduce additional summary cards and a “Coming Soon” section for purchase-related emails. Additionally, in the future, all four card categories – Purchases, Events, Bills, and Travel – will appear in separate emails, in the “Upcoming” section, and in search.