The Gmail mobile client is one of my favourite apps on my Nokia 6630. Despite lacking some basic features like downloading, attaching files and the ability to edit quoted text when replying, it’s a great app. The latest version has got new features, but it misses out on some power features.
The latest version has got a menu item for contacts, shows pictures of contacts, download data, etc., but some more important things seem to be missing. Here’s my short list of Gmail client annoyances:
1. Crash! After installing it, I couldn’t load any other midp2 apps until I restarted my mobile. Now it crashes whenever I try using a new feature, like viewing contacts with photos.
2. Lack of privacy. The new Gmail mobile client loads data from last login when you try to login. This should be useful for most people. However, if you’re going to allow others to check their Gmail on your mobile, this might be a problem. I often let my colleagues check their e-mail with my mobile.
3. Bottomless mails. I have this habit of keeping only the last mail in the thread when replying to a mail, so that there aren’t 17 mails ‘beneath your current threshold’. But with the Gmail client, you can do nothing much besides sending your reply. This is my major peeve with the Gmail client, and the new version hasn’t done anything about it.
4. Image attachments. This is a legacy issue. Sometimes Gmail doesn’t optimize jpeg image attachments for the thumbnail view. You get this message instead: “Sorry, we can’t show a preview for this attachment type.”
5. Snail mail. The previous version was faster.
I love the (uneditable) signature feature, though. If you enable this, your mails are sent with the signature “Sent from Gmail for mobile”. I find this particularly useful as I can now afford to tap out cryptic replies without being considered arrogant.
WidSets 1.0.6 is out. It’s UI has improved and new features have been added. If you don’t have a WidSets account yet, you can download it and register through your mobile.
