It is true today that Yahoo is not the internet giant it used to be till a few years ago. Nonetheless, it’s mail service is still used by a lot of people. Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer decided to give the Yahoo Mail service a face-lift. Introducing the changes herself in a blog post that went out today, she says that Yahoo’s new mail client minimized distracting elements and made speed a key focus, something that should be a major improvement over the somewhat bloated service of old. The new mail experience should roll out for web users “over the next few days,” while the iOS, Android and Windows 8 apps are available now.
It looks like the iOS app actually had a quiet launch last week, but Yahoo’s just updated it today — unfortunately for iPad users, the iOS app is designed for iPhone and iPod touch only. At first glance, it shares a lot in common with the recently-updated Gmail iOS app as well as many other smartphone mail apps, with the now-standard list of folders hiding in a pane on the left side of the screen. While Yahoo might not get any points for originality, a streamlined and unified solution across multiple platforms should make for a better user experience. Mayer closed her post by saying “this is just the beginning,” so hopefully we’ll see Yahoo focus on more mail improvements in the coming months.
New! iPhone and iPod touch
New! Windows 8
Improved! Android (auto-updated for current users)
Update: Yahoo has released a bit more info on what makes its new mail experience such an improvement. For starters, Yahoo claims that the underlying performance for loading the inbox as well as composing and sending emails has been increased — the company estimates it will save all of its users a combined 36 million minutes every day. The new iOS app features push notifications, a constantly-updating list of messages (so there’s no need to load when you reach the end of a list), and the ability to easily add photos from the camera roll or shoot new ones through the app to include as attachments.
Yahoo’s had an Android app for some times, but it has now been re-written from the ground up — the company says it maximizes performance while reducing battery drain by 20 to 40 percent. It’s a visual match for the iOS app and also lets users add multiple Yahoo mail accounts, if they so desire. Finally, the Windows 8 client is fully native, with features like live tile support and integration with the Windows 8 search function. While none of these updates are revolutionary, it should certainly help Yahoo in a year that’s seen Microsoft completely revamp its mail experience with Outlook.com, not to mention the always-iterating Gmail.
Via: The Verge
