If you’ve used Gmail on an iDevice before this week, you know the experience was less-than-ideal. The app was sluggish and could take a while to load your inbox. The app’s newest update, however, makes waiting a thing of the past. Update version 3.0 finally includes full support for iOS 7’s background app refresh, meaning that your Gmail app can now automatically download your email in the background, even if you don’t have the app open. Whenever you want to check your mail, your inbox is up to date as soon as you open the app. To cut down on wasted time waiting for your inbox to load, make sure you turn on background app refresh and notifications for Gmail in the Settings app on your iPhone. The update also brought support for sign-in across all of Google’s iOS apps, like Maps, Drive and YouTube. Signing into one of them means you’ll be signed into them all. It may sound minor, but it’s definitely a boost in the convenience department.
About Shelly Palmer
Shelly Palmer is the Professor of Advanced Media in Residence at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and CEO of The Palmer Group, a consulting practice that helps Fortune 500 companies with technology, media and marketing. Named LinkedIn’s “Top Voice in Technology,” he covers tech and business for Good Day New York, is a regular commentator on CNN and writes a popular daily business blog. He's a bestselling author, and the creator of the popular, free online course, Generative AI for Execs. Follow @shellypalmer or visit shellypalmer.com.