Organizing your inbox will get a whole lot easier
As revealed in a new report, Gmail for Android will finally allow you to create new labels directly from your Android device. This may not sound like a huge change, but for those of us who live and die by organized inboxes, it is huge.As of right now, if you’re trying to keep your inbox organized and sorted by specific labels, you can only do that on your computer by logging in and setting it up that way. But that is finally changing.
Managing labels on your phone
In the latest version of the Gmail app on Android, you can access this new feature by opening up your side menu and looking for “Create label,” which will be sitting right next to your other labels. From there, you simply click on that and type in whatever name you want your new label to be.
However, if you find yourself needing to clean things up later on, you can also delete labels on the go by going into your settings, choosing your specific email address, and then going into the “Manage labels” section to delete whatever it is that you no longer require.
The app is also giving us a little heads-up about this new feature being live by providing us with a little circular badge on the menu button and giving us a “New” tag next to this option.
Why this matters for your mobile workflow
The “New Label” workflow on the Gmail app for Android. | Image by 9to5Google
This new feature is all about parity. There was a time when using mobile apps was considered to be second-class citizenship compared to using our computers to get things done. However, since mobile devices have now essentially become an extension of our primary computers, these little holes in functionality become much more glaring.This is especially true within the realm of email applications, where Gmail is essentially competing with other applications like Outlook or even Spark to provide us with the best overall functionality. As a result of that, Gmail has felt like it was lacking behind these other applications.
A step in the right direction for Gmail users
This is one of the most frustrating holes in functionality that has existed within Gmail on mobile. I don’t know how many times I’ve had to essentially star an email to remind myself to go back and label it later on simply because I couldn’t do it right then and there.
If you don’t see the “Create label” button on your Android phone yet, don’t worry. It’s being rolled out gradually, which means it might turn up on one of your accounts before the others. As for our iPhone-using buddies, we’re still waiting for word on when this feature is arriving for iOS.
