Google unveils Inbox – a reinvented approach to email management

Google today announced Inbox, an application that aims to simplify email management. Inbox builds upon the categories introduced to Gmail last year, Primary, Social and Promotions, and introduces new tabs such as Purchases and Travel to neatly group related emails together. For example, all receipts or bank statements are bundled in the one place.

Google's new app is able to highlight key information from messages such as flight itineraries, tracking numbers and photos in the subject line of an line. This information can then be updated in real time, even if that data wasn't provided in the original email.

Inbox includes to-do list functionality, and allows users to add reminders to the top of their inbox. These can then be snoozed, and triggered again at a certain time, or when the user reaches a certain location, such as home or the office. 

Inbox was designed a mobile first application, taking into account the changes in email usage over the last 30 years.

"We get more email now than ever, important information is buried inside messages, and our most important tasks can slip through the cracks, especially when we're working on our phones" said Sundar Pichai, Google's Senior Vice President for Android, Chrome and App. "For many of us, dealing with email has become a daily chore that distracts from what we really need to do—rather than helping us get those things done."

While Inbox was built by the Gmail team, but isn't designed to replace it. Users will be able to hop back and forth between Inbox and Gmail.

At present, Inbox only works with Gmail accounts.

Inbox is currently operating on an invite-only system, and Is compatible with Chrome, iOS and Android devices. Users hoping to receive an invite can email [email protected] from their Gmail address to be added to the waitlist.