4 ms·

They've recently shoehorned "Chat" tab into Gmail, of all places! So no, folding together apps is not always a good thing.

lern_too_spel 4y ago
Worse, I prefer to chat in a separate app on the phone, so I can more easily multitask between chat and email, but the separate Chat app has less functionality than Chat in the Gmail app.
ericbarrett 4y ago
Google's chat products have been integrated with gmail since the start, though: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Talk https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Talk
- Andrew_nenakhov 4y ago
  No, it was different. It was never in the same app. Merging chat history into it was the best thing about it, and you could use it with any xmpp client (disclosure: I was developing one such client). But it never wasted valuable screen estate in a mail app to make you know that you can also chat. There was a separate app for that.
  - munificent 4y ago
    > It was never in the same app. Yes it was. Look at the last screenshot in this article from 2008: https://techcrunch.com/2008/06/06/the-evolution-of-pre-launch-gmail-in-screenshots/ https://techcrunch.com/2008/06/06/the-evolution-of-pre-launc...
    - matthewdgreen 4y ago
      Maybe I’m looking at the wrong screenshot, but they’re all web desktops. I assumed the previous poster was talking about mobile apps, where screen real estate is really at a premium.
      - ianburrell 4y ago
        The previous poster was probably talking about web Gmail where they recently added sidebar with Chat and Meet. The Gmail app, iOS and Android, doesn't have that. They did put "Chat" pane in the iPad Gmail app but seem to have removed it.
        Izkata 4y ago
        > web Gmail where they recently added sidebar with Chat and Meet Chat has always been there though. I've used it every day for almost a decade on my work gmail account (I don't open the separate page or use a standalone client).
        alephxyz 4y ago
        The web app used to have a Hangouts sidebar which was replaced by a Hangouts Chat sidebar which was eventually renamed to just Chat.
    - Andrew_nenakhov 4y ago
      I was talking about mobile app. It has a tab bar at the bottom with now chat section, the option to remove it is buried rather deep in the settings. Web version of Gmail did have a Gtalk widget, but it could be collapsed / hidden with a couple of easy clicks
happyopossum 4y ago
That's not recent - I was using that in 2010...
- Andrew_nenakhov 4y ago
  There wasn't chat in Gmail Android app until recently. It appeared sometime during the pandemic.

lern_too_spel 4y ago

Worse, I prefer to chat in a separate app on the phone, so I can more easily multitask between chat and email, but the separate Chat app has less functionality than Chat in the Gmail app.

ericbarrett 4y ago

Google's chat products have been integrated with gmail since the start, though: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Talk https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Talk

Andrew_nenakhov 4y ago
No, it was different. It was never in the same app. Merging chat history into it was the best thing about it, and you could use it with any xmpp client (disclosure: I was developing one such client). But it never wasted valuable screen estate in a mail app to make you know that you can also chat. There was a separate app for that.
- munificent 4y ago
  > It was never in the same app. Yes it was. Look at the last screenshot in this article from 2008: https://techcrunch.com/2008/06/06/the-evolution-of-pre-launch-gmail-in-screenshots/ https://techcrunch.com/2008/06/06/the-evolution-of-pre-launc...
  - matthewdgreen 4y ago
    Maybe I’m looking at the wrong screenshot, but they’re all web desktops. I assumed the previous poster was talking about mobile apps, where screen real estate is really at a premium.
    - ianburrell 4y ago
      The previous poster was probably talking about web Gmail where they recently added sidebar with Chat and Meet. The Gmail app, iOS and Android, doesn't have that. They did put "Chat" pane in the iPad Gmail app but seem to have removed it.
      - Izkata 4y ago
        > web Gmail where they recently added sidebar with Chat and Meet Chat has always been there though. I've used it every day for almost a decade on my work gmail account (I don't open the separate page or use a standalone client).
        alephxyz 4y ago
        The web app used to have a Hangouts sidebar which was replaced by a Hangouts Chat sidebar which was eventually renamed to just Chat.
  - Andrew_nenakhov 4y ago
    I was talking about mobile app. It has a tab bar at the bottom with now chat section, the option to remove it is buried rather deep in the settings. Web version of Gmail did have a Gtalk widget, but it could be collapsed / hidden with a couple of easy clicks

happyopossum 4y ago

That's not recent - I was using that in 2010...

Andrew_nenakhov 4y ago
There wasn't chat in Gmail Android app until recently. It appeared sometime during the pandemic.