Gmail's upcoming iOS widget could be really useful

Google announced that it is updating the Gmail iOS widget with a new one that is really useful, which shows you the subjects and senders of the emails that are in your inbox. The company says the new widget "will be released in the next few weeks" to replace the previous version that was not particularly well-received. This also means that, as 9to5 Google points out, this means that the Gmail iOS widget will have the same functionality as the current Android widget.

When the first version of the Gmail widget was released, we noted that it is not particularly useful. It really just provides shortcuts to different screens in the app, like your inbox and email composer. Fundamentally, it doesn't actually show you much information about the emails you've received, although it does tell you how many are unread in your inbox.

Part of the old widget's lack of functionality was because of Apple's limitations. Currently, you cannot create interactivity in your widget, and any user tapping must be handled by launching the application. Those rules haven't changed substantially since the first widget was introduced, but the new design shows that there is still room for useful information. You may not be able to archive an email from your home screen, for example, but you can at least get an idea of ​​what is waiting in your inbox.

Google also announced other upcoming enhancements to its applications that could be useful to regular users of its services. Meet (your business-focused video chat app) is getting support for iOS's picture-in-picture feature, so you can still watch your coworkers or presentation while switching apps to check a file or email. Google also says it will expand the keyboard shortcuts available to people using Google Sheets with an external keyboard (including Apple's Magic Keyboard case).