Native Gmail Client for iOS is Released [Update: App Pulled]

Wednesday November 2, 2011 10:34 AM PDT by Jordan Golson
The native Gmail client for iPhone and iPad has been released:
Waiting. Walking. Watching TV. Working out. Winding down. Waking up. We check email pretty much everywhere these days. And when we do, we want easy access to our important messages so we can respond quickly and get back to life -- or slinging birds at thieving green pigs.

With that in mind, we’ve created a new Gmail app for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. We’ve combined your favorite features from the Gmail mobile web app and iOS into one app so you can be more productive on the go. It’s designed to be fast, efficient and take full advantage of the touchscreen and notification capabilities of your device. And it’s one more reason to switch to Gmail.
The app has several noteworthy features including push notifications for new messages; easy photo uploads; on the iPad, a similar side-by-side split view for reading an inbox and message at once; and more. A native Gmail app was rumored to be near completion earlier this week.

Update: A number of readers are reporting that the app has a significant bug related to push notifications and is giving errors to users upon installation.

Update: Google confirms the bug and has pulled the app until it can be fixed.


Gmail for iPhone and iPad is a free download from the App Store.

180 comments


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mattwolfmatt
95 months ago
It will probably be in beta until 2017.
Rating: 29 Votes
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joeshmo2010
95 months ago
Lol, leave it to google to release a non-finished app. Seriously? How hard is it to actually make sure the "public" version is really ready without major bugs. Do they not run the app before they submit?
Rating: 19 Votes
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rsxmachine
95 months ago
If this is a sign of what android is like, I am glad I didn't switch.
Rating: 19 Votes
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gglockner
95 months ago
I thought we already had a native Gmail reader. It was the built-in mail reader. Sorry, but I can't get too excited about yet another redundant app.
Rating: 18 Votes
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Lopes
95 months ago
anyone getting a notification error of "no valid 'aps-environment' entitlement string found for application" when you first start it up?

basically, it seems notifications are broken for it. Great.
Rating: 14 Votes
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Lopes
95 months ago
phew, so it's not just me!

So, how in the world did THAT kind of error/bug make it through testing and the app store approval process?
Rating: 12 Votes
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dethmaShine
95 months ago
It's a ****ing webview.

Good lord, I could code this app in a week.
Rating: 11 Votes
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John.B
95 months ago
Apparently Google is trying to bring down the the iOS experience to match Android.
Rating: 11 Votes
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sclawis300
95 months ago

This is not my point.... I personally just get a little irritated with people who do nothing but complain. Online, people are super quick to complain and whine about free stuff not being the way that they want. I would understand if you had to shell out cash for this app, sure, complain, yell, scream about it.... but no one here has had to pay a penny to download/use this app and just because the initial release has a giant bug that will obviously get fixed right away, people start bashing.

Just me venting I guess


Does anyone else see the irony here?
Rating: 11 Votes
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Xenomorph
95 months ago

Cut google some slack, jesus!


Cut them some slack? Google has been "working" on stuff like this on Android since 2008, and it's still a complete mess (on both platforms). If they can't get things right after this long, they probably need to stop trying.

If this is a sign of what android is like, I am glad I didn't switch.


Actually, it's worse. On iOS, at least the Gmail app scrolls smoothly. It's even worse on Google's own platform (slow and sluggish, choppy scrolling).
Rating: 10 Votes
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