Users of Gmail’s mobile Android app will be able to tap into their Yahoo and Outlook email in the next version, according to an apparently leaked video posted by blog site Android Police.
The video as shown on Android Police and Videme offers a quick but revealing tour of Gmail 5.0, the next edition of Google’s mobile email app. The 30-second video, which seems to come from Google itself, touts a new look for the app but saves the most interesting tidbit for last.
After offering a look at the app’s new design — which the video touts as “all the features you love with a fresh new look” — the video proclaims: “And you can access other email accounts like Yahoo Mail, Outlook.com and more.” From there, the video shows how you can switch from one account to another just by swiping the top of your smartphone’s screen.
The current Gmail app supports only Gmail, so users with other email accounts have to hop from one app to another. Incorporating access to other accounts would certainly improve the effectiveness and popularity of Gmail’s mobile app. The video doesn’t reveal when the new version will appear, but the folks at The Verge report to expect it in the coming weeks alongside Android Lollipop, the latest version of Google’s mobile OS.
In the video, Gmail sports the new Material Design layout that Google demoed at its I/O show in June. Designed for Android Lollipop and other Google apps, the new layout offers elements that dynamically shrink and expand, adds more white space between those elements, kicks in animation, and looks more 3D thanks to shadows and lighting effects.
The video shows Gmail 5.0 on an Android device, but the new look or at least the third-party email support would likely wind up on the iOS version as well.
Google declined CNET’s request to confirm the video’s authenticity. “We don’t comment on rumor or speculation,” a Google representative said Monday.