Those of you who have been keeping track of Google’s announcements will know that this redesign got announced at the end of last month. It is referred to as the “new integrated view” by the company.
Google announces that new Gmail redesign is now rolling out to users
Do note that the redesign is starting to roll out to all Gmail users, both personal and business. It will take time to reach everyone, though. Google also noted that Scheduled Release domains will begin receiving this look on February 28. Having said that, it seems like this design is not yet automatically switching on. Google did explain how you can manually switch to it, if you want. You’ll need to click the ‘Settings’ icon in the top-right corner. There, under ‘Quick settings’, you’ll see the ‘Try out the new Gmail view’ option. If it’s not there, then the redesign is not yet available for you, you’ll have to wait a bit. If it is, and you click it, you’ll be prompted to click ‘Reload’ in the new window. Another thing that Google noted is that you should make sure to have Google Chat enabled in Gmail. We’re not really sure why, perhaps the redesign won’t arrive as soon if it’s disabled. It’s unclear. Another thing the company noted is that you may be prompted by Gmail itself to switch to the new design. The prompt may pop up in the bottom-right corner.
Google also shared some info on how the new UI works
Google also detailed how this new UI works, even though it’s quite similar to the last one. The “app main menu” is located on the left side, and lets you switch between Mail, Chat, Spaces, and Meet. You can hover over the app icon to get a floating preview related to each service on the left we mentioned, well, except Meet. The new notification bubble in the bottom-left corner allows you to preview a message, reply, or open it (full screen or pop-up window). Do note that you’ll need to manually enable these bubbles through the Chat settings.