Web-based Gmail lands on iPhone, Android

Google has released a new web-based version of Gmail that gives iPhone and Android phone users a more sophisticated version of the online email service, including access to messages that's faster and that works even when offline.

Google demonstrated the web-based mobile version of Gmail last week and announced its availability Tuesday on the Google Mobile blog. Google mobile engineer Joanne McKinley said: "You'll notice that it's a lot faster when performing actions like opening an email, navigating or searching. And if the data network drops out on you... you'll still be able to open recently read messages and to compose over a flaky, or non-existent, network connection."

What's significant with this announcement is that Google has shown just how powerful mobile web browsers have become, not just for surfing web pages, but for running web-based applications. This mobile Gmail application doesn't have to be downloaded through Apple's App Store or Google's Android Market; it works straight from gmail.com in the browser.

The fact that one website can support iPhone and Android is significant for Google: by putting the application on the web, the company doesn't have to create separate applications for different devices, as it has with BlackBerry and Android already but not the iPhone.

The relative universality of the web app sheds light on Google's motivation for supporting Android, too. Google has a strong interest in making mobile devices first-class citizens on the internet, a move that ultimately will open up new advertising possibilities for the search giant.

It's the offline access that sets the application apart from previous versions. The application stores email messages on the phone itself using the HTML 5 standard for web page design and, in Android's case, using Google's Gears browser plug-in.

As well as making messages readable while offline, it also makes reading messages faster, since they don't have to be retrieved over the network as long as they've been cached on the phone.

Google said in a statement: "Gmail for mobile allows common actions such as archive and send to be completed much more quickly than previous releases. The first time you visit Gmail, you may notice that the start-up time is a bit slower than usual. This is because we are downloading required files over the network. However, once the files are downloaded, subsequent launches will be more consistent regardless of connection type."

Other new features include:

• Multiple messages can be selected then archived, deleted, and marked as read, unread, or spam
• A floating toolbar - the "floaty bar" - travels with the page as users scroll through a message or through an inbox with selected messages, letting users take various actions without having to scroll to the top or bottom of the page
• A search button appears at the top of the screen for easier retrieval of older messages. Previously it was buried at the bottom of the inbox

Original article: Google improves Gmail for iPhone, Android from CNET News.com