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Gmail for iOS update lets users automatically open links in Chrome, YouTube, or Safari

Gmail for iOS update lets users automatically open links in Chrome, YouTube, or Safari

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App links in Gmail for iOS
App links in Gmail for iOS

Google has been putting serious work into building a full ecosystem on iOS, and today it's adding a couple of much-needed tweaks to Gmail in an App Store update. Instead of bringing up a web page inside Gmail when the user clicks a link, it will open the separate Chrome app instead, adding a "Gmail" button that will let them get back to mail quickly. The same goes for other types of links — map or video links will open in Google's Maps or YouTube apps instead of in a browser window. All three of these can be turned off in the app's settings menu. Google has also changed Gmail's sign-in settings, so people with multiple accounts can sign out of a single one instead of making a universal departure. As with Gmail 2.1, this isn't the kind of massive update we saw in December, but it's a nice fix for email power users, as well as another way for Google to link its iOS portfolio together.