Google could add a useful new filter to its Gmail app that could help you more easily locate emails lost somewhere in your inbox.
Android Authority reports that after rummaging around in the code of the Gmail app (a version released earlier in October), it discovered the new filter option for the search box that’s present at the top of the screen in the mobile application.
As things stand, you can type your search term in here, and Gmail will return a couple of ‘top results’ as most likely suggestions for what you want to find, and a bunch of other results (labeled ‘results in emails’) below in date order (from most recent, going back chronologically).
The new filter is placed below the search bar and allows the Gmail user to choose between highlighting ‘most relevant’ and ‘most recent,’ and hopefully by switching, you could more easily find any given email if it’s not popping up readily after your initial search.
Android Authority further observes that the cards that are normally present only in shopping order emails – showing order and shipment details – are being displayed in search results, too.
Analysis: Still early days
Note that this change is only present in the Gmail mobile app, and not the web version of Google’s email client. However, it could come to the latter eventually – if anything comes of the filter at all, that is. Just because the feature is in the mobile app’s code, doesn’t mean it will be realized – it might just be an idea Google toys with, then ultimately abandons (given it’s not even officially in testing yet).
In case there was any doubt, Gmail remains the most popular email service, as shown clearly in a recent poll conducted by TechRadar – almost 70% of respondents said they used Google’s client. Google pushes forward with developing Gmail on a continual basis, of course, and we can expect AI to debut soon enough – in fact, Gemini is already in place for Google Workspace users.
